Revisiting ‘The Color of Love’: A Jim Crow Memoir Review

INTRODUCTION

It’s not too often that I run a book review twice. And to be honest, my TBR shelf is long and so I rarely reread a book. But I was re-researching the Jim Crow period for a presentation at the North Carolina Social Studies conference and rememberedThe Color of Love by Gene Cheek. I liked it but had forgotten that I had reviewed it fifteen years ago!

Since many of you probably didn’t read my blog then (although I know that at least Joan Edwards has followed me for that long), I thought it would be worthwhile to share the book again. Although it is a memoir written for adults, it is not difficult to read and I recommend it for readers 13+.

REVIEW

Here is the original review:

Sometimes there are books that speak for themselves. The Color of Love , an autobiography of Gene Cheek, “a blue-collar son of the South” is one of these. Gene’s life-journey is noteworthy for one significant reason: in the Jim Crow South his mother, rejected by her alcoholic husband, fell in love with a black man. This book is the story that documents the life-changing events which Gene experienced as her son.

Here are some excerpts:

When Gene admitted to hating his father his grandmother replied, “Mean he is,” Grandma said. “But you shouldn’t hate him for it. People who hate other people are miserable people. There’s enough hate in this world already, honey, especially here in the South. White people hate the colored and the colored hate the black.” p. 127

This is how Gene felt when his mother revealed her love: “You could have knocked me over with a feather. It was 1961; we lived in…the heart of Dixie. I knew to the southern man there was no greater sin than race mixing. The prevailing views of most white southerners concerning blacks where not news to me. I knew that the majority of the white world–including my father–considered blacks less than human.” p. 145

And what Gene said to his mother when she told him: “To me it boiled down to one simple issue: mama loved me, I loved her, and she loved this man [Tuck]. I’d heard it said in church. ‘You have to walk it like you talk it.’… ‘If you love this man and he loves you, then the color of his skin doesn’t matter,’ I said to Mama.” p. 148

Reflecting on his anxieties during his first visit to Tuck’s house: “On the night of my first visit with Tuck, I was as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs…A black man with a white woman and a white boy? Where could we go together that wouldn’t trigger threats and admonishments and probable violence? We couldn’t eat at a downtown restaurant or shop at the department store or stroll in the park together.” p. 157

His was afraid if he found out about her relationship with Tuck, his father might hurt Tuck or her.

“You think Dad would do that?” I asked her.

“I don’t think he would. But he knows people who would.”

“Who?” I asked.

“He knows men who are in the Ku Klux Klan.” ….

“The Klan is responsible for the death of a lot of black men in this country.” p. 161

What happened when white teenagers harassed Tuck and his mother: “‘Don’t worry, Tuck said. ‘They can’t do anything to us as long as we’re in the car.’ Somehow he remained calm. It occurred to me that this was nothing new to him. Getting cussed and chased by white men was just a way of life for most black men in the South.” p. 164

From a talk with Tuck: “Tuck and I talked while Mama made supper. ‘You know, I love America. I fought for this country during World War II. When we were fighting against the Nazis, I figured that we were fighting for freedom. We believed that we when we came back home we’d be treated as equals. But that didn’t happen. In fact, in some ways it got worse. We couldn’t even wear our uniforms in public when we got back. When I was discharged in 1946 the people at Fort Bragg told us not to leave the base in our uniforms because blacks were being beaten and stripped of their medals and even the buttons on their coats.” p. 168

Gene with Tuck and his baby brother, Randy.

Tuck takes revenge on Gene’s mother and forces a custody hearing. At the hearing, Gene was taken away from his mother after his step-brother, Randy, was born. Gene reflected on this many years later:

“What choice did she have? Had she admitted the truth–that Tuck was the Negro father of her son–she would be confessing to a felony according to North Carolina’s anti-miscegenation laws. And if she was convicted of a felony, she and Tuck faced prison, and what would happen to Randy and me?” p. 209

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This true story may seem unbelievable to those who are younger than I am. To be honest, as a person who grew up during this time period in the North, I shook my head many times as I read it. Gene’s mother and Tuck were married in 1979–six years after North Carolina repealed the anti-miscegenation law. By then, I had graduated from college with no clue how one day I would be touched by this story and have written a book that took place in the Jim Crow south.

Gene spent five years at a boarding school in western North Carolina. Although he was very angry with being sent away and with his father, Gene concludes the book with his honest confession:

“While writing this book, I did gain understanding, and with it came forgiveness, but I have not forgotten. The facts are this will remain a part of my life, as long as there is life. I’m not sure complete healing is attainable. I don’t think I will ever forget, and I’m not sure I should.” p. 258

I, for one, am glad you didn’t, Gene.

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Although this is a book for adults, since Gene describes his experiences as a young boy and a teenager, I would recommend this for mature middle-grade and high school readers also.

Now, I give workshops to teachers and librarians about using Half-Truths to teach their students about Jim Crow. Some recount how their schools don’t want them to teach Black history. I think most readers of this blog will agree that is a travesty and injustice. Using books like Half-Truths, The Color of Love, and others listed on this bibliography, (many of which I reviewed on this blog) is important. As Carl Sagan said, “You have to know the past to understand the present.”

What do you think? Did you or a relative live through Jim Crow? What are your thoughts about teaching this part of American history? Feel free to share a story here.