Life on the Color Line

Gregory Howard Williams begins his life with the notion and the not-so-common misconception that he is white. Living in a poor and unstable household, he makes every attempt at leading a normal life for a white child, until his mother decides to leave his alcoholic father. At this point, Williams’ father tells him that he is African-American and his life will start over tomorrow. As his dad said, “You boys are going to have to learn to live with it, and living with it in Muncie won’t be easy”. This new life in Muncie has shaped him into who he is today.
Williams demonstrates consistently throughout Life on the Color Line the strong will and determination that was required of him to survive through prejudices, low expectations for his race, and stereotypes. He begins the novel by lividly not wanting to be black and ends the novel being angry when he is called white. This transformation of self was by all means epic. Williams is able to give every detail into his life and every detail is extremely well written.
It is not difficult in anyway way for a reader to feel the emotional behinds his written words. I can visualize and hear Williams’ clear descriptions and what seem to be exact conversations in my head. When he and his brother are in shock or encounter something appalling, I often found myself gasping out loud. Understanding the key elements of this book and certain aspects of racial discrimination can only help increase empathy for Williams.
While it seemed that African-Americans had the hardest life in the 1950s and ‘60s, it was the biracial children who struggled the most. As the saying often goes, “Punish the sin. Not the sinner”. The mulatto child was the sin. Williams and his younger brother, Mike, grew in different directions, because of being such a “sin”. Williams broke the stereotype and became a successful lawyer and later a thriving law professor (his dream); however, his brother Mike took a different direction.
During high school at Muncie Central, he would often disappear, marry strange and older women, do drugs, and have sex at a young age. For a while, things were looking like he would end up like his alcoholic deadbeat father. From a mulatto child with an out of control father, this behavior was expected and nobody was surprised. It was a wonder that Williams turned out the way he did.
Being involved in many extracurricular activities and having a diverse group of friends, allowed him to see what it was like to live beyond stereotypes and oppression. He beat out his competition for Muncie Central’s quarterback, who was white. This was his opportunity to shine while receiving much praise from his white coach. Williams truly expands greatly on each lesson he learned through every experience he has gone through.
Williams’ memoir gave me a much deeper understanding of this odd situation. It seems like such a farfetched story, but I can’t imagine that it has only occurred once in history. Williams’ was not alone in this situation, and I can’t begin to believe that some individuals were placed in more difficult situations.
I can’t help but doubt however, that all of these conversations were completely accurate. This memoir covers his life since approximately kindergarten to after graduation. It seems impossible that he was able to cover in detail every exact word that was said. Sometimes authors will exaggerate the truth in order to sell their work or simply because they had forgotten. There is no doubt that the father was a drunk, mother had left, who they stayed with, and the experiences of his high school and sports, but I honestly don’t think everything is 100% true.
I felt as if the ending was rushed, but ultimately adequate. His book stopped going into immense detail after his graduation and early college years, but I don’t think that his problems necessarily stopped there. Overall, the book was well written and inspiring. I would not be opposed to reading it again and I appreciate that it was required for me to read in class. There is a lot to learn from this memoir and quite a bit to open a reader’s eyes.