When We Were Colored

May 1, 2007
Adult/High School-On the cusp of the civil rights era, in 1964, Rutland's memoir was published in a limited edition as "The Trouble with Being Mama". This reissue has a new introduction. Mama, as Rutland is known, reflects on her daily deeds, accomplishments, and misgivings about raising her four children while residing in an integrated California suburb and sending them to integrated public schools. This African-American, middle-class family strove to maintain social, economic, and educational equality within a multicultural environment. Mostly, they succeeded. There are no fire hoses or church bombings in this down-home, kitchen-table memoir. The color line manifested itself in more subtle ways: in difficulty purchasing real estate, or when the children maintained the required grades but were not placed in exceptional classes. Rutland's self-effacing manner, and the strictly adhered to and enforced gender roles, may seem as striking to today's more self-actualized and empowered young adults as will the clarity with which the author shows the depth of racism without criminal incident."Jodi Mitchell, Durham County Library, NC"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2007
Released in 1964 as "The Trouble with Being a Mama", Rutland's book relates her twofold mission. She talks shop as a mother, discussing all those big and little things that every parent experiences, and also as a black mother in the precivil rights days when segregation was legal. On both counts, this volume still warrants a place on library shelves.

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.