The Color of Water
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How did James’ misunderstanding and confusion with his own identity and race positively affect his life?
How did James’ misunderstanding and confusion with his own identity and race positively affect his life?
When James asks his mother whether God is black or white, he is a boy living in a predominantly black community with a mother who looks white, and is simply expressing his personal confusion about race. To add to the confusion, however, his mother simply responds that she is "light-skinned". When his mother explains that God doesn't have a color, and that God is "the color of water", the image converges questions of racial and religious division into an essence that is clear and universally spiritual - in other words, "human". It takes James much of his life to understand what she means and come to peace with his own identity.