James McBride is the author of The Good Lord Bird and The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store.
The acclaimed American writer and musician spoke with Eleanor Wachtel in 2014 about why his work zeroes in on racial tensions in national and personal narratives.Posted: Feb 23, 2018 3:19 PM EST | Last Updated: February 23
"When I was a little boy, I used to ask my mother, 'What colour is God?' She would say, 'God is the colour of water.' It became more relevant later on. "The fact that he had attacked the arsenal at Harpers Ferry with 19 others in an attempt to end slavery, he was a white guy who felt it was wrong and he was a devout Christian — I just couldn't believe what a great story it was! He took over America's biggest arsenal and held it for a day-and-a-half, but he was sitting there waiting for the black folks to show up and they just never came.