The world is full of predispositions that favor the majority and hinder minorities. James McBride's memoir, The Color of Water, and Richard Wright's autobiography, Black Boy, both address the disadvantages minorities face. In these narratives, 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 Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Ruth McBride is an immigrant from Poland and faces pressure to conform to her parents' traditional ideologies and the standards of the American South. Ruth is considered an outcast by other whites in Suffolk, Virginia due to her Jewish heritage. As a result, she is able to better identify with the African Americans in her town and begins a relationship with a black boy named Peter. Unfortunately, due to her own family's racism and the popularity of the KKK, Ruth is forced to see Peter in secret. Ruth becomes pregnant with Peter's child, and since such a pregnancy is considered socially unacceptable, she is discreetly sent to New York City to live with her aunts. When describing the oppressive Suffolk community, Ruth states, “It was always so hot, and everyone was so polite, and everything was superficial but underneath it was like a bomb waiting to explode” (McBride 184). Ruth learns the value of hard work and self-reliance because she is never given the luxury of sympathy, and she later passes her values ​​of open-mindedness and education to her children. Therefore, Ruth's new sense of self compels her to marry a black man despite her family's threats to sever all ties with her; it also pushes her to convert to Christianity because, unlike Judaism, Christianity was never forced on her. Ultimately, Ruth is able to create her own identity by rejecting her family's prejudices and her family's religion. As Ruth's biracial son, James McBride struggles to understand his own racial identity. When James is a young boy, his mother sends him to school in a Jewish neighborhood to ensure he has the best education possible, but as a result he is subjected to racial prejudice and begins to resent his mother's race. One of James' first pressures to conform to a stereotype arises when his classmates push 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 as he skips school and turns to drug use and crime. When Ruth discovers his bad behavior, she sends him to live with her sister in Louisville, Kentucky. There, James meets the men on the corner, who embody the dead-end life James would lead if he continued along his current path. Although James befriends these men, he realizes that he needs to 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 states: “I felt like a Tinkertoy kid building himself with one of those toy construction sets; since while I.