The brilliant autobiography “Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood” is written by the well-known comedian and host of “The Daily Show,” Trevor Noah. Through his experiences growing up in South Africa during and after apartheid, Noah provides a window into the challenges of residing in a nation split along strict racial lines in this collection of autobiographical writings. Noah was born in 1984 to a single mother, Patricia, during the time of racial segregation known as apartheid.
The phrase “Born a Crime” captures the essence of his life’s paradox: being born into a country where his parents’ marriage was illegal due to their mixed racial heritage. With humor and resiliency that have made him a global voice, Noah skillfully negotiates the intricacies of race, identity, and the repercussions of apartheid through his distinct perspective.
Trevor Noah | I was Born a Crime
Stories of Noah’s life are interspersed with insights into South Africa’s culture, systems, and history. Patricia was a strong, driven woman who paid little heed to the racist laws that oppressed her. Noah’s father, Robert, agreed to give Patricia a child during a time when sexual relationships between black and white South Africans were illegal. Robert, a Swiss immigrant, never supported segregation and did what he could to undermine apartheid.
Historical Context
Dutch colonizers came to South Africa in the 1600s and used slave labor to run their farms on stolen land. The white South Africans called Afrikaners are descended from these colonizers. Black South Africans, from tribes including the Zulu, Xhosa, and Sotho tribes, were subjugated under apartheid law until the mid-1990s. A third racial group emerged from the intermingling of the Black and white South Africans: mixed-race or “colored.” Both during apartheid and after its dissolution, mixed-race South Africans were the most marginalized and disenfranchised people. Apartheid ended in 1994, but Noah’s struggles as a mixed-race child in South Africa continued. It was often hard for Noah to determine which groups would accept him.
Key Themes and Lessons
Patricia had always encouraged her son to read and think independently; she valued education and made sure that her son spoke multiple languages. Of the eleven official languages in South Africa, Noah could speak Zulu, Tsonga, English, and Afrikaans. This skill allowed him to move among different racial and cultural groups at school. Though Noah felt out of place in many social settings, his ability to talk and empathize with many different types of people served him well throughout his life.
Read also: Significance of the Firstborn Plague
Even at a young age, Noah understood that the bullying he experienced from his mixed-race peers was likely a result of the self-hatred all mixed-race South Africans had been taught. Noah was a mischievous child, but Patricia believed in tempering her punishments with assurances to her son that she held him accountable because she loved him.
Early Entrepreneurial Ventures
During his high school years, Noah acquired a small bootleg CD business from a friend. Noah soon found that he could make more money working with his friend Sizwe, who was from the poorer, crowded Johannesburg township called Alexandra-known to most residents as Alex. After graduation Noah moved to Alex to expand his profits, with Sizwe’s help. Sizwe recognized that Noah had talent as a live DJ, and the pair formed a performance group. Noah and his group sold bootleg and mixed CDs, dealt in stolen goods, performed at parties and concerts, and did their best to avoid confrontations with local law enforcement.
Encounters with Law Enforcement
Noah was already familiar with the South African police. Patricia received no help from the local police when she tried to file charges against her abusive husband. Noah was arrested for shoplifting, on suspicion of carrying a weapon, and for driving an unregistered vehicle. One arrest kept Noah in jail for several days, and Patricia had to pay for his lawyer.
Despite his dealings with law enforcement, Noah could see his own privilege in comparison to many of his peers.
Family Dynamics
The men in Noah’s life taught him little about how to interact with women. Robert was a distant but generally pleasant presence. Patricia’s father, Temperance Noah, was an unpredictable figure. Later, Noah would learn that his grandfather had bipolar disorder and would often beat his wife, Frances. Patricia experienced abuse in her marriage as well.
Read also: Sade Adu's Grammy Achievement
Abuse and Resilience
Noah’s stepfather, Abel, became acquainted with Patricia and her young son during their many visits to the automotive shop where Abel worked on their run-down car. After Abel and Patricia married, he bought the shop. Patricia was forced to sell her home to keep the business running, and the family spent a stressful year living in the shop warehouse. Abel often came home drunk, and he began beating his wife. Once Abel had sons of his own, Noah’s half-brothers Andrew and Isaac, Abel’s hostility toward Patricia’s oldest son grew.
One day, Noah received a phone call from Andrew with news that Abel, now estranged from his family, had come to Patricia’s new house and shot her in the head as she was shielding Andrew and Isaac. Miraculously, Patricia survived.
Chapter Summaries
- Chapter 1: Run
The book begins with a funny and terrifying story of Trevor’s mother trying to kidnap him and throwing him from a moving automobile. This establishes the tone for the narrative by emphasizing the risks he faced as a child and his mother’s courageous parenting style.
- Chapter 2: Born a Crime
Noah talks on the consequences of being born as proof of his parents’ wrongdoing. He explores the absurdity of the apartheid regime, highlighting how his mixed ancestry made it difficult for him to fit in at all.
- Chapter 3: Trevor Prays for Chocolate
The main topic of this chapter is Trevor’s upbringing in religion. He describes going to many churches and the significance of faith in his mother’s and his own lives, highlighting his early experiences with injustice and inequity.
Read also: The Mystery of Jesus' Birth
- Chapter 4: Chameleon
Noah talks on how his early exposure to language influenced his identity. He developed the ability to move between various racial and socioeconomic groups by becoming a “chameleon,” bridging gaps through language.
- Chapter 5: The Second Girl
In a setting fraught with racism, Noah talks about his first crush and the lessons he took away about rejection and love. This chapter sheds light on the social and personal constraints that young Trevor had to deal with.
- Chapter 6: Loopholes
Noah explores the ingenious tactics he and his mother used to get by throughout the follies of apartheid and its aftermath, as well as how they managed to survive and prosper under repressive systems.
- Chapter 7: Fufi
Noah examines communication and misunderstanding issues while considering the nature of relationships and the presumptions we make about other people through the story of his childhood dog, Fufi.
- Chapter 8: Robert
Trevor’s connection with his father, who was important but sometimes aloof, is explored in this chapter. Noah talks about the complicated nature of their relationship, which was characterized by love, distance, and difficulties getting back in touch.
- Chapter 9: The Mulberry Tree
Noah describes an incident involving a mulberry tree that taught him a lesson about retribution, justice, and violence when he was younger. This tale functions as a metaphor for more significant South African socioeconomic problems.
- Chapter 10: A Young Man’s Long, Awkward, Occasionally Tragic, and Frequently Humiliating Education in Affairs of the Heart, Part I: Valentine’s Day
In his hilarious account of his embarrassing romantic experiences, Noah emphasizes the common difficulties of first love as well as the extra challenges of dating in a divided society based on race.
- Chapter 11: Outsider
With an emphasis on his adolescence, Noah talks about the effort to fit in and the sense of alienation. He talks about his early attempts at DJing and the start of his career in entertainment.
- Chapter 12: Cheese Boys
This chapter explores the idea of privilege in relation to South Africa’s poverty and criminality. Noah considers the various directions that the boys in his township’s friendship with him had taken in life.
- Chapter 13: The World Doesn’t Love You
Noah discusses the lessons his mother instilled in him about self-worth, independence, and the harsh realities of the world. This chapter is a testament to his mother’s influence on his understanding of personal responsibility and resilience.
- Chapter 14: Go Hitler!
Noah recounts his experience with a dance crew and a performance gone wrong, using humor to explore the ignorance and the remnants of apartheid mentality in South Africa.
- Chapter 15: The Cheese Boys
Detailing his ventures into entrepreneurship and the criminal underworld, Noah discusses the moral ambiguities and the choices he made to escape the cycle of poverty and violence.
- Chapter 16: The World Doesn’t Love You
In one of the most powerful chapters, Noah recounts a harrowing incident of domestic violence that underscores the themes of strength, survival, and his mother’s indomitable spirit.
- Chapter 17: My Mother’s Life
The memoir concludes with a tribute to his mother’s life and her profound impact on him. Noah reflects on the sacrifices she made, her unwavering faith, and the lessons she imparted, which have guided him throughout his life.
