The world is full of predispositions that favor the majority and hold back minorities. James McBride's memoir, The Color of Water, and Richard Wright's autobiography, Black Boy, both address the disadvantages faced by minorities. In these stories, Ruth McBride, James McBride, and Richard Wright are all surrounded by ignorant people who pressure them to conform to stereotypes. However, these individuals are able to fight ignorance and build their own identity using the power of education and knowledge. Through the growth of the characters in Black Boy and The Color of Water, it is evident that education is the key to self-discovery. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayRuth McBride is a Polish immigrant and she faces pressure to conform to both her parents' traditional ideologies and the standards of the southern United States. . Ruth is considered an outcast by other white people in Suffolk, Virginia, due to her Jewish heritage. As a result, she is better able to identify with the African Americans in her town, and she forms a relationship with a black boy named Peter. Unfortunately, due to her own family's racism as well as the popularity of the KKK, Ruth is forced to see Peter in secret. Ruth becomes pregnant with Peter's child and, because such pregnancy is considered socially unacceptable, she is quietly sent to New York to live with her aunts. Describing the oppressive Suffolk community, Ruth says: "It was always so hot, and everyone was so polite, and it was all just on the surface, but underneath it was like a bomb ready to go." (McBride 184). Ruth learns the value of hard work and self-reliance because she never had the luxury of sympathy, and she later passes on her values ​​of open-mindedness and education to her children. Thus, Ruth's new sense of self compels her to marry a black man despite her family's threats to cut all ties with her; this also pushes her to convert to Christianity because, unlike Judaism, Christianity was never imposed on her. Ultimately, Ruth is able to create her own identity by rejecting her family's prejudices as well as her family's religion. As Ruth's biracial son, James McBride struggles to understand his own racial identity. When James was a young boy, his mother sent him to school in a Jewish neighborhood in order to give him the best education possible, but as a result he was subjected to racial prejudice and began to resent his family's race. mother. One of James' first pressures to conform to a stereotype comes when his classmates pressure him to dance; while he wants the approval of his classmates, he is torn because he knows that dancing for them would perpetuate the idea that all black people can dance. After the death of his stepfather, James goes down a slippery slope, skipping school and turning to drugs and crime. When Ruth discovers his bad behavior, she sends him to live with her sister in Louisville, Kentucky. There, James meets the local men, who embody the dead-end life James would lead if he continues on his current path. Although James befriends these men, he realizes that he must work hard and educate himself to escape their fate. It is only after completing his studies that James feels compelled to research his mother's past, and in doing so is able to accept both parts of her heritage. He says: “I felt like a Tinkertoy child who was building himself..