The Color of Water

 Quote from The Color of Water:

"It took years before I began to accept the fact that the nebulous "white man's world" isn't as free as it looked....that all Jews were not like my grandfather, and that part of me is Jewish too."  

Perhaps the readers who accuse McBride of being anti-semitism saw something in the story that I missed. I did not come away having negative impressions of Hebrews anymore than I came away with negative impressions of blacks. 

The mother herself may have developed hatred for Jewish people due to her father's harsh treatment of her and also being shunned by her family. Even her beloved younger sister slammed the door on her face when she went to her for help after her husband died.

It was a different time. In today's world, there may be segments of the population that frown on interracial marriages, but is no longer illegal in the United States of America. Children of today are growing up in a world where interracial couples are shown on TV, commercials and movies. We also had our first black First Lady and biracial president. 

When Ruth McBride-Jordan was growing up, there were probably a lot more Hebrew's who looked down upon Negroes, than there are today. Especially living in that Jim Crow south.