I thoroughly enjoyed Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. Who knew it was possible to laugh out loud while simultaneously learning so much about the social implications of being half-white in apartheid South Africa? I guess it’s what I should have expected from the charming comedian slash activist that is Trevor Noah himself.
Noah’s first memoir was sprinkled with delightful tales of childhood innocence and teenage mischief as well as detailed historical background on apartheid South Africa and what it was like growing up there as a kid who was not quite Black and not quite white. I honestly had little to no knowledge on South African race relations and the racial classification system that existed by law until recently (and still has very prevalent social implications). Toeing the line between economic and race classes for his entire upbringing, Noah had lots of life lessons to share and frankly unbelievable experiences under his belt.
“People love to say, ‘Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.’ What they don’t say is ‘And it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod’. That’s the part of the analogy that’s missing.”
This non-American perspective on race was honestly, jarring to read about. I knew far too little about apartheid. However, the bottom line is the same- we cannot continue to keep racism out of sight and out of mind.
“In society, we do horrible things to one another because we don’t see the person it affects. We don’t see their face. We don’t see them as people. Which was the reason the hood was built in the first place, to keep the victims of apartheid out of sight and out of mind. Because if white people ever saw black people as human, they would see that slavery is unconscionable. We live in a world where we don’t see the ramifications of what we do to others, because we don’t live with them… If we could see one another’s pain and empathize with one another, it would never be worth it to us to commit the crimes in the first place.”
My favorite part of this memoir was how Noah talked about his relationship with his mom. Their relationship changed fluidly between partners in crime/officer and prisoner throughout his childhood, and I couldn’t help but laugh at the situations he seemed to always be getting himself into. I especially got a kick out of the chapters about Noah’s middle and high school crushes and his inability to talk to girls (like, yikes). He was also quite the businessman in high school- hearing about his escapades made my high school experience seem downright boring (it was…).
This book was both highly informative and entertaining, and I would definitely recommend it. If you are looking for a nonfiction read with both completely serious and completely unserious aspects, Born a Crime is your next read.
Rating: 4/5 burner CDs
xx, Lauren
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