Based on what James says, why doesn't Ruth tell her children about her past (childhood)?

I think that Ruth's past was filled with strife. Her father was cruel to her and the racial tensions in her past were not healthy. Ruth wanted to run away and cut ties with her past. She no longer wanted to be Rachel Deborah Shilsky. When she married a black man she literally and symbolically cut ties from her past. Her twelve children were of mixed race and Ruth felt that revelations of her past would only reinforce prejudice on color and ethnicity. Ruth was steadfast in her resolve that color did not define a person, especially in the eyes of God.