The Color of Water Genre and Historical Context

The Color of Water Genre and Historical Context

Memoir Memoir: (noun) a historical account or biography written from personal knowledge or special sources. Word origin: French, meaning memory. As humans, our memories often reflect the complexities of human nature and contain multiple layers of meaning and significance of symbolic proportions.

James Mc. Bride (1957 -present) The son of an African-American father and a Jewish mother The Color of Water is a unique memoir in which each chapter alternates between Mc. Bride’s own accounts of his childhood with his mother’s accounts of hers Author’s purpose for multiple narrators = capturing his biracial culture

Bi-Racial Struggle for Identity Bi-racial: concerning or containing members of two racial groups Above: James Mc. Bride with his mother Ruth What are some struggles? What are some benefits? At Right: Ruth Mc. Bride Jordan

1960 s-1970 s Civil Rights Black Panther Party of Self-Defense – originally an armed citizens patrol to end police brutality Started in 1966, peaked in 1970, ended by 1980 Typically viewed as the defiant counterpart to sit-ins and strikes While Martin Luther King, a Christian, preached “civil disobedience” Malcolm X, a Muslim, claimed equality “by any means necessary” Malcolm X was equally intelligent and charismatic Bi-racial son of a African-American man and a woman with mixed ancestry from the Caribbean Established The Nation of Islam, a freedom fighting group

Anti-Semitism Anti=against Semitic=a member or descendent of any of a number of peoples of ancient southwestern Asia including the Akkadians, Phoenicians, Hebrews, and Arabs Anti-Semitic has come to mean against Jews Began over 2, 000 years ago Early Christians blamed Jews for crucifying Jesus Religious hatred racial prejudice Anti-Semitism culminated in WWII when Hitler and the Nazi’s exploited social stigmas to commit genocide against Jews A woman sits on a park bench marked “Only for Jews. ” Austria, ca. March 1938. US Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Anti-Semitism in America Henry Ford blamed WWI on profiteering Jews and spoke openly against them The KKK persecuted Jews and other minorities in addition to African. American terrorism Many Americans believed that Jews controlled the banking system and were profiteers Jews suffered racial slurs, hate crimes, prejudice, and segregation America’s anti-Semitism was partly responsible for the nation’s hesitancy to join WWII Many Jews joined the African-American Civil Rights Movement but saw little return in aid

Why study racism? Ignorance of a threat Empowerment of the threat Social stigmas and ignorance enables leaders of genocide Confronting all forms of hatred is critical. Historical texts, fictional texts, and non-fiction texts develop understanding and compassion

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. " George Santayana: Life of Reason, 1905

Anti-Semitism Today Currently, many in the Islamic world deny the Holocaust’s occurrence Former president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=ITy 8 n. GZm. Q_g Middle Eastern countries promote anti-Semitism in statecontrolled media and educational systems Hamas, a Middle-Eastern militant group, uses genocidal language regarding Jews and the State of Israel. In Europe and America, Jews still face racial prejudice, stereotyping, and harassment