The Color of Water
Who was Chicken Man, and how does James describe him?
Chicken Man was one of the men who hung out at the liquor store, an older man who was an alcoholic and a street-corner philosopher.
What kept Rachel from having dates in high school?
First, her father would not have permitted it. Second, no one in her school would mix socially with a Jew.
Describe the wedding between Ruth and Dennis.
First, they endured several sneers in the process of obtaining a marriage license because interracial marriages were so unusual. They had arranged to be married quietly by Rev. Brown, their minister at the Metropolitan Baptist Church, and they had a reception at the home of some friends.
Kosher
Following the dietary rules of the Jewish faith
How did Frances become Ruth's friend, and how did she show friendship?
Frances complimented Ruth on her hair and asked to be her friend. When Ruth went home with Frances, Frances refused the dinner her mother had cooked after realizing Ruth could not eat any of it. Frances asked for white bread and mayonnaise, which she thought Ruth would be able to eat.
haute cuisine
French term meaning highly styled food, or by extension, the top of the line
Describe Harlem as Rachel saw it in 1939.
Harlem was a magical place with music and entertainment, nightclubs, and theaters.
What different names did the children use for Hunter Jordan?
James and the younger children called him Daddy, while the next group of children called him Daddy sometimes and Mr. Hunter sometimes. The older children called him Mr. Hunter.
How did Rachel and Mameh learn that Bubeh (Mameh's mother) had died?
Mr. Shilsky received a letter from Mameh's sisters asking if he wanted the three rooms full of furniture she had left behind.
Who was Mr. Charlie?
Chicken Man called any white man "Mr. Charlie." Chicken Man would switch to the name Chuck when he was very drunk.
Infallible
Not capable of making a mistake; reliable
What was the state of her family when she returned to Virginia?
Rachel found that her mother was in very bad health but was running the household with help. Her father, though, was having an affair with a neighbor, and he also went away without explanation for weeks in the summer. Finally, Rachel's father was badgering Rachel's mother for a divorce so he could marry his lover.
What is the promise that gives this chapter its title?
Rachel promises her sister Dee-Dee that she will stay in Virginia to help with the family's problems.
What event changed things between Peter and Rachel?
Rachel discovered she was pregnant.
How did Rachel meet Dennis McBride?
Rachel was working in her Aunt Mary's leather factory when Dennis McBride began working there. Dennis was his middle name, his full name being Andrew Dennis McBride. Although he called himself Dennis, the author refers to him sometimes as Andrew McBride.
What does the term "get happy" mean in the context of worship?
"Get happy" means to get lost in the moment, losing control in the experience of worship and being possessed by the act of worship.
Shiva
A Jewish ritual in which friends visit the bereaved family to mourn a loss
What incident illustrated the bond between Ruth and Dennis?
A black woman attacked Ruth in the hall of her apartment building, and Ruth escaped, locking herself in her apartment. When he got home, Dennis told the woman to leave his wife alone. Although Ruth and Dennis were not married, he referred to her as his wife, and that gave her protection among the black people in their Harlem neighborhood.
Halvah
A cookie-like sweet made with sesame seeds and honey; popular sweet in Jewish and Middle Eastern cultures
Orthodox Jew
A person who practices the Jewish faith in its strictest form, including observation of dietary restrictions, special clothing, and rules on the Sabbath
Rov
A rabbi who arranges a marriage
Ten years earlier, James had been in Suffolk on the same quest and had met Aubrey Rubenstein. What had this encounter revealed?
Aubrey Rubenstein was the son of the man who had taken over the Shilsky family store when the family broke up. He was welcomed by Rubenstein and was sent to meet Gerry Jaffe, whose family ran the slaughterhouse. The Jaffes also welcomed James.
Why might Rachel's family have mourned her when she married?
As Orthodox Jews, they disapproved of her marriage outside the Jewish faith, and they did not accept her marriage to a man of a different race.
What was so ironic about Ruth's decision not to drive?
As a young girl in Virginia, known as Rachel, she had driven a truck and a trailer, but as an adult called Ruth, she had left her past completely behind, and she could not master a car. After a traumatic drive to the grocery store, she decided never to drive again.
What revelation does James have in Suffolk?
As he walks through the town in the pre-dawn haze, he thinks of his grandmother and how her dreams of life in America evaporated. Then he realizes that her life was hard and lonely but it was not wasted. She gave her descendants a better life, one in which they could choose a productive and positive existence.
Why was it brave of Peter to go out with Rachel?
At that time, any black man who mixed socially with a white woman was in danger of being beaten or hanged by members of the Ku Klux Klan or others in the area.
What concerned Ruth about Bubeh?
Bubeh was diabetic, and Ruth was afraid that she would have to intervene if her grandmother went into diabetic shock.
Protestant
Christian, including denominations such as Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian, but not Roman Catholic
How did Daddy die, and what was the effect on the author?
Daddy died suddenly of a stroke, and the author went into a tailspin, quitting school, spending whole days at the movies, smoking marijuana, and engaging in small crimes to get cash.
What emergency occurred to change the life of the family?
Daddy suffered a stroke. He was in the hospital for some weeks, but eventually he came home to recover.
What event plunged the family into tragedy?
Dennis McBride-husband, pastor, father of seven-developed cancer and died.
What calling did Dennis get, and how did he respond to the calling?
Dennis felt a calling to become a preacher, so he went to Bible college and then started his own church, the New Brown Memorial Church, which was named to honor their former pastor from the Metropolitan Baptist Church.
How did the relationship between Dennis and Ruth become stronger in this period of Ruth's depression?
Dennis was a man of deep Christian faith, and he assured Ruth that God would forgive her the sin of leaving her mother behind. Ruth began going to church with Dennis, and she found healing in the teachings of the Christian faith.
What had brought Dennis McBride to New York?
Dennis was a violinist and composer who had gone to New York for a career in music.
Who was Dennis?
Dennis was the oldest child, an accomplished artist who actually made money from his art. Mommy held him up as an example to the younger children. He had completed college and was studying to be a doctor. During medical school, he was a civil rights activist.
Claustrophobic
Fearful of small, enclosed spaces
Describe the Orthodox observance of the Sabbath in their household.
From sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, they lived a very restricted life. They lit candles and said prayers. Then they sat quietly or read. They did no work and did not go out on the Sabbath. They did not light the stove (and therefore did not cook) or tear paper.
verboten
German for forbidden
How did Daddy place James in a position of importance?
He asked James to help him dress and to get into his car. Then he talked to James about the money he had saved and some land he owned in Virginia, admitting that it would not be enough to keep the family out of poverty. He instructed James to take care of Mommy and the younger children.
How did James get money at this time?
He became a drug dealer, selling marijuana. He also robbed women of their purses.
How does the author reveal Mommy's name as an adult?
He describes a scene in which his stepsister Jacqueline (called Jack) addresses Mommy as Ruth. Thus, while married to her first husband, she was known as Ruth McBride; when married to her second husband, she was known as Ruth Jordan.
How does the author describe the advent and importance of black power?
He describes a time of cultural energy, including the influence of Malcolm X, Afro hair styles, and the Black Panthers. He mentions that many public buildings were repainted to show the colors of the black power movement, red, black, and green. He talks of musical and poetical influences as well as drag races.
How is the stepfather described?
He died at 72, but he was a large, friendly man. The author always called him Daddy.
What mistakes did the new minister of the New Brown church make?
He had the picture of Andrew Dennis McBride removed from behind the pulpit and put in a vestibule, a place of much less honor. In addition, when Ruth went to hear the new minister preach, he did not announce her presence to the congregation, thereby showing her a lack of respect both as a founding member of the church and because of her race.
How does James detect racial prejudice in the larger society?
He identifies prejudice in the writing of sports columnists, who hold black and white athletes to different standards, as well as in the behavior of other people in public spots, like subways or escalators.
What does James learn about Mommy's family when he travels to Suffolk?
He learns for the first time that his mother's name was Rachel (which she had changed in New York to Ruth) and that she was considered kind. He also learns that his grandmother had been nice to everyone but his grandfather had cheated and discriminated against blacks.
What struck James as odd about his stepfather?
He noticed that his stepfather wore old-fashioned clothes, was not interested in the Mets or civil rights, paid attention to church and school for his children, and collected jazz records and antique furniture.
What does the author notice about his mother's appearance, and what advice does she give him when he asks about her different looks?
He notices that she is white; that she does not look like the other mothers. She tells him to stop noticing how she looks and to forget the other kids and their mothers. She urges him to focus on school, to play with his brothers and sisters, and to keep family business private.
What revelation does James have as his mother puts him on the bus for college?
He realizes that his mother has always pushed her children to go out on their own, to find a better life, whether it was with relatives, at camp, or at college.
What does James come to understand as a result of his welcome by Aubrey Rubenstein and the other Jews in Suffolk?
He realizes that the Jews, having been outsiders in the life of Suffolk, are more willing than the whites to treat blacks with equality. Exclusion by whites has formed a bond between the Jews and the blacks.
What kind of violence did James see at the liquor store?
He saw a fight between one of the men and his girlfriend, and then he watched for two days as the man sat with a gun to kill the girlfriend's new boyfriend. After that couple got back together, though, Chicken Man got into a fight with a woman who stabbed and killed him.
How does the author describe life in the household?
He says it was "kill or be killed", a system that taught each child to solve his own problems, although Mommy would step in at the last moment if someone needed help. The children slept three or four to a bed, wore hand-me-downs, and teased each other.
What does James say about his biological father?
He says that Andrew McBride was a Baptist minister who enforced discipline to be sure his children did not get into trouble. He was concerned about money, which is natural with so many children.
How does James profile his stepfather?
He says that Hunter Jordan continued the values of his father and worked with his mother to raise children focused on knowledge and education as the means of defeating poverty.
How does James explain Mommy's attitude toward outsiders?
He says that both his parents came from minority groups that had learned to cope separately from the larger society. Both the Jewish-European immigrant community of his mother and the black community of his father had suffered discrimination at the hands of the majority community, and the family was taught not to trust outsiders.
How does he describe his mother's power now that her family is grown?
He says that her children return to her home for Thanksgiving and Christmas each year, in spite of overcrowding and chaos, and that her ideas for entertainment or eating are instantly accepted without challenge.
James says that Mommy's control over her children was reduced as the older ones moved out into the world. What examples does he give of this?
He says that it started when Helen ran away at fifteen and continued when an older brother went to Europe on his own and a sister dropped out of college because she had a baby. His brother Richie married at eighteen and then was divorced. He was later arrested, although the charges were ultimately dropped.
How does the author characterize the world of reporting?
He says that most publications are run by white men, who often sabotage the careers of black writers. He has worked mostly for white women editors, and he characterizes them as compassionate but as victims of workplace discrimination. He condemns black news editors as privileged, and he generally finds the politics of the workplace suffocating and racist.
The author says that his mother was a bad cook. What examples does he furnish to support his conclusion?
He says the grits she made had big, sticky lumps, and her pancakes had egg shells and an unidentified "white goo" in them
What does Aubrey Rubenstein send to Ruth?
He sends her a greeting on James' tape recorder. James tells his mother of the visit, but he never plays the tape directly to her, fearing that she might find it too emotional.
What job did James find in Louisville? How did the job end?
He started working at a gas station for a man named Herman. One customer, a homosexual, made advances to James, who started punching him in the face. The other man then started chasing James around the gas station with a gun. Herman stopped the fight by firing James.
Why does the author compare his mother's memory to a Bouncing Betty?
He thinks of her memory as a booby-trapped minefield, with explosions that occurred when he least expected them. In other words, he did not know how to predict which parts of her memory were upsetting to her.
How did Mommy find out that James was not going to school?
He used forged report cards, and he had his sister fill in one for him. When Mommy saw grades of C, she called the school and was told that, in fact, he had not been there for weeks.
Why was Hunter Jordan's liquor-making activity illegal?
He was making liquor during Prohibition, the period in which it was illegal to drink alcohol in the United States. In addition, he had no license to manufacture or sell alcohol, which is a controlled substance.
Why did James return to Suffolk in 1992?
He was seeking information about his mother's family in a search for his own identity and heritage.
Why did Daddy continue to live in Brooklyn?
He was set in his ways and liked a quiet, orderly existence. Life in his family's household was chaotic, with eight children when he and Mommy married, and, eventually, twelve children. To avoid the chaos, he stayed in Brooklyn during the week and visited the family on the weekends.
Why would outsiders think James would succeed in life?
He was smart and a good student; he excelled at music, attended church, and was attractive, with curly hair and brown skin.
How does the author describe the experience of going to church with his mother?
He was very aware that his mother was the only white person in the congregation of approximately forty and that her singing voice was terrible, reminding him of Curly in the Three Stooges.
How did Rachel's father obtain his divorce from her mother?
He went to Reno, Nevada, and divorced her without giving her the opportunity to contest the divorce.
What happened when Mommy went to ask Helen to return?
Helen closed the peephole in the door and refused to speak to Mommy. Mommy had to go home without her.
Describe Helen.
Helen was the second of the five sisters. A talented pianist, she stopped playing for the church and dropped out of school. She became militant in the quest for racial equality and went from being quiet and naïve to being assertive, even aggressive.
What caused Daddy to swear at his brother Henry?
Henry was driving James' sister Judy, and Uncle Walter back to New York from Richmond, but Henry was drunk and speeding, endangering himself and his passengers.
What was her name?
Her birth name was Ruchel Dwajra Zylska, but when the family came to America, she became Rachel Deborah Shilsky.
P.S. 138
Public School 138
What encounter does Rachel have at the bus station?
Her father arrives in the car to convince her to stay. He offers her a sales route, college, or business school. He says her mother needs her and that he needs her to run the store. He says that if she marries a black man, she should never return and will never see her mother again.
What kept Rachel and Peter from marrying?
In Virginia, in 1936, it was impossible to get a marriage license for a black and a white to marry. Such a marriage was illegal. In addition, if they went to apply for a license, the man would be killed by the Klan.
Why did the author want to write a book with his mother?
In trying to know himself, he decided he needed to know his mother. He focused on the book project as a vehicle for learning about her past and about his own history. In the process of examining and rebuilding her past, he felt that he had rebuilt his own life.
What did Ruth and Dennis decide about marriage?
Initially, they decided to live together because they knew that getting married would be difficult for an interracial couple.
When Dennis returned to North Carolina on visits, why did he not take Ruth?
Interracial marriage was illegal in the South, and he could have been arrested for having a white wife. Even more dangerous was the fact that whites sometimes kidnapped and killed black men who were dating or married to white women.
What was BC powder, and how was it used?
It was a patent medicine (a medicine whose composition was covered by a patent) that could be bought without a prescription. It had a small amount of cocaine in it, and people used it for a wide range of ailments.
What tormented James about his appearance?
James did not look like anyone he knew. He was not white like his mother or black like his stepfather or other relatives. He did not resemble movie heroes, either, and he could not find anyone to identify with.
What was the author's reaction to the death of his stepfather?
James drifted. He eventually dropped out of school; he stopped going to church; he avoided his home and family; and, most ominously, he took up with new friends who shoplifted, used guns, smoked marijuana, and drank.
What were the author's feelings about black power?
James had very mixed feelings about black power: excitement at the cultural energy and fear that the movement would be a threat to his white mother.
Why does Eddie Thompson find it so humorous that James is Mr. Shilsky's grandson?
James is obviously half black, so the irony of his grandfather's racist attitudes is not lost on Eddie Thompson, the black man who tells him about the Shilskys.
What changes did James resolve to make when he returned to New York after Chicken Man was killed?
James realized that Chicken Man was right: life hanging out at the liquor store was no future for him. He returned to New York resolved to continue working hard at his education and to put himself in God's hands.
What protected Mommy when she made her commute from Manhattan to Queens during the night?
James says that as a child he did not understand her fearlessness in making the commute, but as an adult, he believes her Christian faith immunized her against fear of muggers.
What kept James from moving forward right away?
James was addicted to marijuana, he drank, and he suffered flashbacks from using LSD. He realized that he used marijuana to insulate himself from the reality that his mother was falling apart emotionally from the loss of her husband.
Kaddish
Jewish prayers for the dead
Haggadah
Jewish texts that contain folklore and ethical teachings but are not part of the Talmud, or Jewish scriptures
J.H.S. 231
Junior High School 231
What caused Ruth to rethink her decision not to drive?
Lack of public transportation in Wilmington meant that the family needed a car to get anywhere.
What three elements does Ruth say a marriage needs to survive?
Love, God, and a little money.
Tallis
Prayer scarf used by Jewish men to cover their heads or shoulders while praying; the scarf usually has knots at the corners
What parting gift had Mameh put in Rachel's bag lunch? What was the significance of the gift?
Mameh had put her Polish passport, complete with a picture of herself holding Sam and Rachel. It was the only picture of Mameh that Rachel ever had, and it showed that Mameh knew she would never see her daughter again but wanted Rachel to remember her.
Why might Mameh have been fond of the birds she fed?
Mameh lived a hard and emotionally unsatisfying life, and she was probably attracted to the freedom enjoyed by the birds, who could fly from a bad place to a good one.
Reefer
Marijuana
In trying to come to terms with his racial identity, James talked first to Mommy and then to his siblings. What answers and advice did he gain from them?
Mommy clearly did not want to discuss the mixed-race heritage of her children, telling James that he was a human who would be a nobody without education. David identified himself as black. Most of the time, the family was too busy to discuss the question of race.
When James went to the store alone, he bought milk that was spoiled. Why was Mommy so angry about this, and what happened when she went to return the milk?
Mommy was angry because the white merchant was exploiting blacks, who had no other place to shop, and his refusal to take back the milk was an insult to them. When he saw Mommy with James, he reacted negatively to her being the parent of a mixed-race child. Ultimately, he insulted her verbally, and she threw the milk at him.
What caused the household to slip deeper and deeper into poverty?
Mommy was sending all available funds to the children who were already in college, and she had neither the money nor the interest to work on the house or find other paying jobs.
Describe Mommy's early life.
Mommy's family moved from town to town, living anywhere that her father could get a job as an Orthodox rabbi. They were poor, often being paid in lodging and hand-me-down clothes, and her mother was handicapped by polio.
How did Mommy learn to bargain?
Mommy's father was an Orthodox Jew, and she had seen him bargaining with customers and other merchants as she grew up.
Who was Mrs. Dawson, and what was her role in the new life James was making in Delaware?
Mrs. Dawson was a wealthy woman who sponsored music and travel scholarships for needy students. The Dawsons were supporting James in his trip to Europe with the American Youth Jazz Band, and in return, he worked weekends and summers at the Dawson estate. Mrs. Dawson took an interest in James, exposing him to classical music, literature, and poetry.
How do Mrs. Shilsky and Dee-Dee react when Rachel leaves for New York? How does Mr. Shilsky react?
Mrs. Shilsky (Mameh) gives Rachel a bag lunch and kisses her good-bye, but Dee-Dee refuses to talk to her because in leaving, Rachel is breaking her promise to Dee-Dee. Rachel's father refuses to acknowledge her at all.
The author is the grandson of Orthodox Jews. Does he feel at home with the Jewish merchants of New York?
No, he has not been raised among Jews, although he comes to respect them for the value they place on education and the support they gave his sister Rosetta for her education.
What was life like for James in Louisville?
Over three summers, James and his brother-in-law Big Richard hung out at a liquor store in Louisville, and James learned the ways of the street.
Who was Peter? Describe him.
Peter was Ruth's first boyfriend. He was tall and handsome, with dark skin and an appealing smile. He had a good sense of humor.
What kind of marriage did Rabbi and Mrs. Shilsky have?
Rachel, their daughter, says that the marriage was dutiful but not warm. Many times her mother would sleep with her and her sister rather than spend the night with her husband. She was loyal to her husband, but they never developed a loving relationship.
What caused Richie to stop going to Sunday school?
Richie asked why his Bible pictured Jesus as a white man and he was not satisfied by the answer Rev. Owens gave him, so he stopped going to Sunday school.
How did the author's brother Richie change as an adolescent?
Richie played the tenor sax and became obsessed with music. He dressed and acted the part of a musician and had little interest in school.
What did Richie tell James (the author) about James' place in the family, and how did this affect James?
Richie, an older brother, told James that he was adopted and that his real mother was in jail. He said that Mommy would be returning James to his birth mother the next week. James was very worried about this scenario, and he stayed awake until Mommy came home from work at 2 a.m., when he asked her about it. His confusion over his mother's race and his place in the family made his adolescence a worried time and made him susceptible to concerns about whether he really belonged to the family.
What caused Helen to leave? Where did she go next?
Rosetta was the oldest sister, and she lived among the brothers and sisters like a queen. One night she and Helen had a violent fight, and Helen left. She surfaced at their stepsister Jack's, but she refused to come home.
What caused Ruth to pressure Dennis to get married?
Ruth had joined the Christian church, which teaches that living together without marriage is sinful. In desiring to live a Christian life, she wanted to be married.
What causes Ruth to go into an emotional collapse?
Ruth learns that her mother has died, and she is overcome by loss and by guilt for not helping her mother more.
Ruth says that her aunts were all trying hard to be Americans, "not knowing what to keep and what to leave behind. But you know what happens when you do that. If you throw water on the floor it will always find a hole, believe me." What does this mean?
Ruth means that the sisters were not always sure what was important emotionally as they tried to become Americanized and that emotional issues, when repressed, will explode eventually.
How did Dennis' family react to the marriage?
Ruth says that they were kind people and welcomed her to their family.
How does Ruth describe the years she and Dennis lived in the one-room apartment in Harlem?
Ruth says these were the happiest years of her life, living with her husband and growing family in a tiny apartment, using dresser drawers as cribs, sharing a bathroom with other tenants, and attending church on Sundays.
What prevented Ruth from becoming a prostitute?
Ruth sought out Dennis McBride to learn news of her family, and he told her that Rocky was a pimp who intended to turn her into a prostitute. Dennis did not scold Ruth for her life with Rocky, but he was clearly disappointed by her decisions. She was impressed by his feelings, and she went back to her grandmother's.
Who was Rocky, and what was his role in Ruth's life?
Ruth started working as a manicurist in Rocky's barbershop, but he was exposing her to the world of nightclubs and prostitutes, intending to make her a prostitute working for him.
Recount Ruth's speech at the church's anniversary dinner.
Ruth starts out nervously, but she discards her prepared remarks and speaks from the heart, saying that the church began in faith and is a witness to God's love.
Who recognized that Ruth was pregnant, and how did she solve the problem?
Ruth's Aunt Betts recognized that Ruth was not acting normally and asked her what was wrong. Finally Ruth told her about the pregnancy. Aunt Betts found a Jewish doctor who performed abortions, and she took Ruth to him, stayed with Ruth during the abortion, and comforted her afterward.
In August 1993, Ruth returned to Suffolk, Virginia, the town where she grew up. Describe this visit.
Ruthie, with the author and two of his siblings, returnes to Suffolk, driving through the town but not stopping to talk to its inhabitants. They go on to Portsmouth, where she is reunited with her childhood friend, Frances, and renews their friendship.
What happened to Rachel's brother Sam?
Sam ran away at age fifteen. He hated his demanding and tyrannical father, he hated the after-dinner sessions of learning Yiddish and studying the Old Testament, and he hated working in the store. He fled to Chicago and got a job. He became a soldier and was killed in World War II. The author's mother never saw him after he ran away from home.
What were Mommy's priorities?
School was her top priority, and she was also consulted about emergencies like a flooded kitchen.
Who were some of Mommy's civil rights heroes?
She admired Malcolm X, author and activist; Paul Robeson, opera singer and activist; Jackie Robinson, the first black to play in the major leagues; Eleanor Roosevelt, a white First Lady who advocated for racial equality; A. Philip Randolph, black social activist; Martin Luther King, Jr., a black minister and civil rights leader; and members of the Kennedy family, who advocated racial equality.
What happened when Mommy took her children to buy school clothes?
She bargained with the Hasidic Jews who sold the clothes, trying to get the lowest price.
How does Rachel learn that she has been cut off from her family?
She calls her Aunt Mary to learn which hospital her mother is in, but the aunt says the family has already sat shiva for Rachel, meaning that they have mourned her as if she were dead, and would never let her be part of the family again.
What piece of paper did the author's mother carry for twenty years, and why did she carry it?
She carried a paper saying that she had arrived in America on the Austergeist on August 23, 1923. She carried it because she thought it secured her place in America, and she feared the threats of her father who said she could be sent back to Europe.
What caused Rachel to return to Virginia?
She decided to return because her mother was ill and her father needed help with the store.
Does she use the name of Rachel as an adult?
She does not use her American name or her birth name as an adult, although we do not yet know what name she goes by. She says that Rachel had to die so she could come into a different life as an adult. Her children call her Mommy.
To whom did Ruth feel closest among her relatives in New York?
She felt closest to Bubeh, her grandmother, who was a warm and loving woman. Bubeh spoke Yiddish, never having learned English, and she had a circle of friends who, like her, had come to America but had not become Americanized.
How does James describe the contradictions in his mother's racial attitudes?
She felt that whites treated blacks unfairly, but she made her children go to white schools, where the education was better. She felt that blacks were more trustworthy but that their systems were less professional and proficient.
How did Mameh discover Rachel's secret?
She found a bracelet that Rachel dropped at night in the street behind the store, so she knew she was seeing a man. She watched Rachel and observed signs of pregnancy.
What was Ruth's only concern about leaving home?
She knew that her mother (Mameh) was in failing health, and she worried about abandoning her. But she hated and feared her father, and she did not want an arranged marriage forced on her by her father.
What was Mommy's reaction to black power?
She largely ignored it, teaching her children to focus on education and church and not to trust anyone from outside their own family.
What did Mameh say to Ruth about being pregnant?
She never said anything about it, but she recognized that Ruth was pregnant, and she sent her to her own family in New York, trusting that they would find a solution to the problem.
What does the author's mother say about Bubeh's wig?
She notes that Bubeh wore a wig (shaytl in Yiddish) every day. Mommy, then a girl, thought the women wore wigs because they were bald. In fact, it was (and is) the custom for married Orthodox Jewish women to keep their heads covered, whether they do this with a wig or a scarf.
How did the mother grieve after her second husband died?
She rode her bicycle all over Queens, the area where the family lived in New York. She avoided bill collectors, and she was not interested in marrying again, although her family needed money and marriage would have given them some financial security.
How does she describe her father?
She says he was a hard man, a hard worker, who had deserted from the Russian army and married by arrangement. He brought his family to America and was a rabbi. She called him Tateh, which means father.
How does she describe her mother?
She says her mother, named Hudis, was pretty and gentle. Her family was from Dobryzn, Poland, and all remaining members of the family were killed in the Holocaust. She had suffered from polio, which had left her lame and partially blind.
Why is the mother reluctant to talk about her family?
She says she has been dead to her family for fifty years and that neither she nor her family has any interest in revisiting the past.
What does Mommy reply when James asks her if God is white or black?
She says that God is a spirit, having no color, or being the color of water.
What does Ruth say about her first husband and about Christianity?
She says that he introduced her to a different God, one who forgave her past life and loved her. She felt she was reborn in the Christian faith, which her husband introduced her to.
How does Mommy describe the kosher rituals of her grandparents?
She says they used different sets of plates, tablecloths, cooking pots, and utensils depending on what they were eating: they used one set for meals containing dairy products and another set for meat-based meals. They never ate pork, which is forbidden to Orthodox Jews.
What was Mommy's solution to the problem of James?
She sent him to his sister Jack, who had moved to Louisville, Kentucky.
What kinds of kosher foods did Mameh (Mrs. Shilsky) make?
She served matzoh balls, kneydlach, gefilte fish, kugl, and chopped liver.
What did Ruth do after her abortion?
She stayed with her grandmother (Bubeh) and attended Girls Commercial High School for a year. She found the work very hard and retreated to Virginia to her old school.
What did Mameh advise Rachel to do?
She suggested that Rachel go to New York that summer to see her grandmother. This gave Rachel a way out of town and protected her father and others from discovering her pregnancy.
What comments does she make about discrimination?
She talks about restrictive property laws, which banned Jews from owning property in certain parts of town, and she talks about how white people discriminated against Jews through lack of friendship and through ridiculing them.
In this chapter, Mommy (Ruth) talks about three groups of people. What ethnic groups does she discuss?
She talks about whites, by which she means white Christians; blacks; and Jews.
What does Rachel/Ruth reveal about her family life?
She tells James that her father (the rabbi) molested her at home in bed and at the seashore in the water. She hated and feared him because of this, suffering feelings of worthlessness and developing a lifelong fear of dominating personalities.
What did Mommy tell her children about dealing with Jews?
She told them that some Jewish people would be fairer and kinder to them than other whites.
How did Mommy supplement the public school education of her children?
She took her children to free cultural and recreational events, such as the zoo, parades, libraries, and concerts.
Why is Mommy claustrophobic?
She traces her fear of enclosed spaces to the death of her grandfather. She feared that he was not dead but would wake up inside a small coffin. Her greatest fear was that the same thing would happen to her and that she would be buried alive in a small coffin, surrounded only by the dead.
What did Rachel like about her first boyfriend and about her other black friends?
She valued the fact that they did not judge her, did not exclude her because she was Jewish.
What did Mommy do to help the author settle in to kindergarten?
She walked him to the bus stop daily, and she met him each afternoon. This was the first time the author could remember being alone with her.
What made Mommy such a striking woman, and how did the author feel about her appearance?
She was a white woman living in a black area. She was pretty, confident, and assertive. She acted without regard to (or even awareness of) what others thought, as demonstrated by her habit of riding the bicycle. The author, who was fourteen at the time, was embarrassed by having a mother who was so conspicuous, both racially and in her behavior.
What fears did Rachel harbor as a child about guns?
She was afraid that her father (Tateh) would accidentally kill himself while cleaning the pistol he kept beneath the counter.
Who was Aunt Candis?
She was an aunt of Dennis's who lived in North Carolina. Initially, she was fascinated by Ruth's whiteness, but they became close friends, and Aunt Candis came to New York to live and care for Ruth and her seven children after Dennis died.
What do we learn about the mother's birth?
She was born in Poland on April 1, 1921, to a family of Orthodox Jews.
Why did Rachel change her name to Ruth?
She was ridiculed by the gentiles at school for being Jewish, and she thought Ruth sounded less Jewish than Rachel.
What was Mommy's reaction to the death of her second husband?
She went into a deep grief-stricken depression, not noticing what was going on around her.
Describe Ruth's life after her children grew up.
She went to college, graduating from Temple University in Philadelphia. Then she worked as a volunteer counselor, helping pregnant, unwed young women. She then worked as a literacy coach at a public library.
What job did Mommy hold?
She worked as a typist at a large bank, working from 3 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Yiddish
The Jewish language; Hebrew
Who were Curtis and Minnie Ware, and how did they help Dennis?
The Wares were people from his hometown, High Point, North Carolina, who had moved to New York. Curtis was the building superintendent for a New York apartment, and they had a rent-free apartment. They let Dennis, and others from High Point, stay with them until they found jobs and places to live in New York.
What is the author's educational background, and what has he done professionally?
The author graduated from Oberlin College in 1979 and received a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University in 1980. He had a succession of jobs as a journalist.
In writing of the anniversary celebration of the New Brown Memorial Church, James sums up his immediate family's history as follows: "The old-timers at New Brown used to say God honored Rev. McBride. The man died without a penny, yet his children grew up to graduate from college, to become doctors, professors, teachers, and professionals all. It was the work, they said, of none other than Jesus Christ Himself." Explain what this quote means.
The author is saying that his father had laid a strong foundation of faith and routine in his family. After his death, the family was enveloped by the church family, which was an instrument of Jesus Christ in helping Ruth and the family through difficult times.
What is the ethnic background of the author?
The author is the child of a black man and his white wife, the wife having been born into an Orthodox Jewish family.
What effect does this advice have on the author when Mommy is not at the bus stop one day?
The author panics, because he does not know how to get home and believes he should not ask any other parents for help. He is saved when his brothers and sisters come to take him home.
This chapter contains a long discourse on the author's coming to terms with his own identity and race. Summarize his outlook.
The author says that early on, he was confused by racial issues and very conscious of his mixed-race heritage. He was prone to retreat into black groups because his appearance made him blend in there. He says it took him a long time to learn that whites have as many problems and gradations as blacks, and that their problems are often overwhelming. He has also tried to accept the Jewish part of his heritage, separating Judaism from the negative aspects of his grandfather's character.
What framework does the author give to the story?
The author says the book will be the story of his mother and will include his own story as well.
Why is the bicycle an embarrassment to the author, and where did it come from?
The bike is obviously used and out of style, with fat tires, blue paint, and a prominent horn. It was found on the street by the author's stepfather. As a piece of junk, the bike would underscore the family's poverty and be an embarrassment to the author.
What event changed and saddened Daddy's life?
The city condemned his house in Brooklyn, paid him a low price for it, and tore it down. They never built the housing project that had been planned for the site.
Where did the author's mother first live in America?
The family first lived with Mommy's grandparents, who were called Zaydeh (grandfather) and Bubeh (grandmother). They had achieved some financial security and were warm, loving people.
What caused the family to move to Delaware?
The family moved because they could not afford to stay in New York, where the cost of repairing their house was prohibitive.
What was the conflict surrounding Ruth's graduation?
The graduation ceremony took place in a Protestant church. Since Orthodox Jews were forbidden to enter a gentile worship space, Ruth's parents forbade her to take part in the ceremony. She wanted to graduate next to her friend Frances, and they marched to the ceremony together. At the doorway of the church, Ruth found that her Jewish upbringing prevented her from entering the church, so she did not attend the ceremony.
Describe the Passover traditions.
The house was to be completely clean, with all traces of leavened bread removed. This echoes the haste of the original Passover of the Old Testament, when the Jews were warned to make bread quickly, not wasting time for it to rise, and then to flee for their safety. The family used special dishes and served special foods. They set one place at the table for Elijah, who was expected to herald the Messiah. They read the Haggadah and answered questions about the Passover.
James discovered music and books when he was in the fifth grade. He also escaped reality by developing an imaginary friend. Who was this friend, and what was so attractive about him?
The imaginary friend was his own image in the mirror, but James thought the image seemed carefree. He envied and hated the image because he felt the image was never hungry, had his own bed, and did not have a white mother.
What is the king/queen system?
The king/queen system gives power to the oldest sibling. When that sibling moves out, the privileges move to the next sibling, so ultimately, each child would have a turn as king or queen. This was the system Mommy used to impose order when she was not at home.
How does the author describe the marriage of his mother and stepfather?
The mother raised the twelve children, because Daddy lived in Brooklyn during the week and came home on the weekend to bring food and gifts.
How does the author describe the pastor?
The pastor, Rev. Owens, was a barber during the week. He was a dedicated man of the spirit, but he was not a good reader, and his sermons were more emotional than informative.
Why was the store open on Sundays, and why did white people shop there then?
The store was open on Sunday because Sunday is a regular workday to Orthodox Jews, the Sabbath being from Friday night to Saturday night. Whites shopped there on Sundays because stores operated by Christians were closed then, so they ventured into the black part of town to shop on Sunday.
Why is this chapter written in italics?
The use of italics signals that the mother is talking.
How were the author and his brothers and sisters exposed to Jews? Why did their mother pick this particular kind of exposure?
Their mother sent them to predominantly Jewish public schools. She believed that Jews valued education very highly and that they would insist on the best education for their children. She wanted the same for her children, so she sent them to the same schools.
How did their life change in Suffolk, Virginia?
They found the South smelled different, that it was segregated, and that the people were very hostile to Jews. Rabbi Shilsky bought a store in the black part of town, and, although the store looked run-down, the business prospered.
What kind of diet did the family live on?
They lived on whatever they could scrounge up, whether it was a little food bought at a store, stolen, obtained from a welfare agency, or brought home from Mommy's job.
What were the circumstances of the marriage between the author's mother and stepfather?
They married when the mother already had eight children; they had four more children, and the stepfather treated them all as his own. Because the mother was white and both her first and her second husband were black, all the children were racially mixed.
Why did the family move to St. Albans, a neighborhood in Queens, one of the five boroughs of New York?
They moved because Daddy bought a house there for the family.
Where did they move next, and what were the attractions of their new apartment?
They moved to a housing project in Brooklyn called Red Hook. It was integrated, which made the life of an interracial family easier, and the apartment had its own bathroom, so they no longer had to share facilities with other families. There was also a playground for the children. Ruth finally felt that she was living a typical American life.
What sustained the family after Dennis died?
They received gifts of money from friends, church members, and Dennis's employers. They received moral support from their friends, and Aunt Candis came from North Carolina to move in and help with the children.
What kind of help did the family receive from Ruth's relatives in New York?
They received no help from Ruth's family, learning instead that Ruth's family considered her dead for marrying a black man.
Describe the incident that occurred when James and Mommy were returning from Jack's, and comment on its effect on James.
Two muggers went for Mommy's purse. She fought them, but they gained the purse and fled, destroying the food that Jack had prepared in the process. James was so frightened that he could not talk at first, and the incident reinforced his ongoing worries for her safety as a white woman in a black neighborhood.
pillage
capture, steal
Recount the incident on the way to Fresh Air camp that typifies the concerns James had for his mother's safety.
When James was on the school bus to go to camp, he saw that his mother was the only white person in the large crowd. A black man came through the crowd and, after an extended and intricate handshake, put his son on the same bus. When asked about his father, the son said he was a Black Panther. James was suddenly afraid that the Black Panther was there to harm his mother. He tried to call to her from the bus, but he could not get her attention. In his fear, he punched the other boy in the face.
Why does the author list Ruth's children and their education?
When he talked his mother into working on a book with him, he promised that he would list her children and their educational attainments as witnesses of her success as a mother.
What was his alternative to work as a reporter?
When he was not working in journalism, the author found employment and success in the world of music, where he was recognized as a composer for musical theater and as a saxophone player.
What made Ruth decide to leave the South for good?
When she returned to Virginia, she learned that her old boyfriend, Peter, was marrying someone else who was pregnant by him. She was angry and hurt that he did not wait for her while she recovered from the abortion in New York, but she knew she could never have married him in Virginia since he was black and she was white.
What racially discriminating incident occurred to James when he was in fifth grade? How did he respond?
When the teacher was reading to the class about "Negro history," one of the children whispered that James was "a ******". The author was embarrassed, but he did not respond, and his anger grew over the years.
What were the drawbacks of life in Delaware?
Wilmington, Delaware, had no public transportation, and it was a very segregated city.
aveyre
Yiddish for forbidden
Shul
Yiddish for school
Shvartse
Yiddish slang for a black person, often applied as a derogatory term
goye
Yiddish term for someone who was not born Jewish
rendezvous
a French term meaning a secret meeting, usually romantic
bourgeoisie
a French term referring to the solid middle class, characterized by professionals and property
rov
a Jewish rabbi of superior rank who can grant divorces
Buckwheat
a black movie character whose hair stuck out from his head
"S" bus pass
a bus or subway pass sold at reduced rates for students only; New York City used public transportation for school children
Tin Lizzie
a car similar to a Model A Ford, a very basic early automobile
enclave
a contained area
******
a corruption of the word Negro and a deep insult to any black
quickie divorce
a divorce granted in a state that does not require a long residency period
conk
a hairdo often favored by black men, with smooth waves in front and loose curls at the back
hole card
a hidden card that is a sure winner in betting games, as in "ace in the hole"
pimp
a man who controls a group of prostitutes and profits from them
H. Rap Brown
a militant black activist who preached the concept of black power
perpetrator
a person arrested on suspicion or found guilty of a crime
mulatto
a person of mixed race, specifically of one black parent and one white parent
Ku Klux Klan
a secret organization whose white members were pledged to discriminate against and terrorize blacks
Bouncing Betty
a type of land mine used in Vietnam; it detonated when someone removed a foot from it, blowing up the victim when the danger seemed to have passed
Hasidic
a very strict Jewish sect
kinetic
active
Elijah
an Old Testament prophet
LSD
an illegal drug that causes hallucinations and flashbacks
treyf
food that was not kosher and therefore not acceptable for a Jew to eat
denizen
inhabitant, holder, citizen
honky
insulting term for white person
Cab Calloway and Billy Eckstein
jazz musicians
nappy
kinky, extremely curly hair
tittering
laughing nervously
Jim Crow
laws and customs that discriminated against blacks
protagonist
main actor in a struggle
entres
main dishes; usually spelled entrees
gentile
non-Jewish
peripheral
on the edges
token
one person (or a few people) who are different from the larger group; the token is often placed in a situation to demonstrate diversity that is not genuine or complete
instigator
one who incites or starts an action, argument, or crime
extol
praise
leavened
raised, or containing yeast; leavened bread is bread made with yeast
dilapidated
run-down
Messiah
savior; for Christians, this means Jesus, but Jews believe the Messiah is still to come
dissipation
scattering
aka
shortened form of "also known as"; sometimes written a/k/a
cantoring
singing or chanting in Yiddish to lead the Jewish congregation in prayer
gawk
stare
Rabbi
teacher; in the Jewish tradition, the leader of the congregation and a respected member of the community
epicenter
technically, the spot above the center of an earthquake or bomb explosion; by extension, the eye of the storm or the center of chaos
kaddish
the Jewish prayer mourning the death of a friend or family member
yarmulke
the small beanie-like cap worn by Hasidic Jews in public and by many observant Jews during worship
pre-busing era
the time before court-ordered busing was put in place to end segregation in schools
reveille
the trumpet tune used to wake people up in the army
haggle
to bargain a price down
circumcise
to cut the foreskin on male babies, ritually practiced among Jews
wield
to handle; to exercise
comprise
to make up; to consist of
lapse
to revert to; to slip into
forage
to scrounge
T squares
tools designed for use in plane geometry and mechanical drawing, allowing the construction of lines that intersect at 90 degrees
fossilize
turn to stone
gibberish
unintelligible words or sounds
WASPS
white Anglo-Saxon Protestants
tacitly
without discussion