What is it about???
Life on the Color Line is a real life account of a young boy who grew up in the racist culture of the 1950's. Gregory Williams' father is half black and his mother is white, which deems him part black even though he looks completely white. Life is great for Greg and his family until he is about eight years old; then things start to fall apart. His parents get divorced and his mother runs away with two of his younger siblings, leaving him and his younger brother, Mike, to live with their alcoholic father. They go broke and move to Muncie, Indiana where his father hopes to find work. In Muncie, Greg and Mike learn that they are considered Negroes because of their black relatives.
Once they get to Muncie, Greg, Mike, and their father start to live with their aunt and uncle. Soon their uncle starts to complain about the boys being too much for them to handle and they threaten to put them in an orphanage. Miss Dora, a lady that goes to their aunt's church, offers to take the boys in and take care of them. Their father moves in with his mother and the boys live with Miss Dora. Miss Dora only has $25 a week to live on, which was barely enough for her to get by, let alone taking care of two young boys as well. Despite the lack of money, she knows that they need a better home life. Their father agrees to give her a certain amount of money each week to help take care of them, but he rarely does. He drinks and gambles most of it away.
Miss Dora
Greg and Mike make it through middle school and soon they are in high school. Greg has a love for basketball and he tries out for the team. He makes it, but later on in the season, he is moved down to the team. Greg is really disappointed, but he consumes himself in his studies. This is when he learns that he is passionate about history.
Towards the end of the book, Greg and Mike see their mother for the first time in ten years. She tries to convince them to move in with her and her husband and that life will be better. Mike is all for it, but Greg is kind of upset that she didn't make the offer when their lives were really hard. She showed up too late and he's not too happy with her.
Despite Greg's dysfunctional childhood and the racist culture of the 1950's, he pursues his dreams and becomes very successful. Mike, on the other hand, turns out to be a wild child and he doesn't become successful like his brother. The book ends with Greg describing how his life turns out. He ends up becoming a lawyer and a college history professor. He has the best of both worlds.
Despite Greg's dysfunctional childhood and the racist culture of the 1950's, he pursues his dreams and becomes very successful. Mike, on the other hand, turns out to be a wild child and he doesn't become successful like his brother. The book ends with Greg describing how his life turns out. He ends up becoming a lawyer and a college history professor. He has the best of both worlds.