Born a Crime by Trevor Noah ****

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.” In, Born a Crime, Trevor Noah’s memoir of growing up in South Africa, he writes about apartheid, racism, language, crime, segregation, and education. The book ends before he leaves South Africa, so this is not a rags-to-riches story, but one of survival. His insights are delivered with a light touch -- a mixture of harsh reality, universal truth, and humor.

This book indirectly says much about contemporary racism. Highly recommended.

LANGUAGE

“That, and so many other smaller incidents in my life, made me realize that language, even more than color, defines who you are to people.”

Nelson Mandela once said, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” He was so right. When you make the effort to speak someone else’s language, even if it’s just basic phrases here and there, you are saying to them, “I understand that you have a culture and identity.”

[My mother] believed my prayers were more powerful because I prayed in English. Everyone knows that Jesus, who’s white, speaks English. The Bible is in English. Yes, the Bible … came to South Africa in English so to us it’s in English. Which made my prayers the best prayers because English prayers get answered first.

BLACKS ACCEPTED RACISM: “Oh, Nombuyiselo,” she said. “Trevor is so naughty. He’s the naughtiest child I’ve ever come across in my life.” “Then you should hit him.” “I can’t hit him.” “Why not?” “Because I don’t know how to hit a white child,” she said. “A black child, I understand. A black child, you hit them, and they stay black. Trevor, when you hit him, he turns blue and green and yellow and red. I’ve never seen those colors before. I’m scared I’m going to break him. I don’t want to kill a white person. I’m so afraid. I’m not going to touch him.” And she never did. My grandmother treated me like I was white.

BRITISH RACISM VS AFRIKANERS RACISM: The difference between British racism and Afrikaner racism was that at least the British gave the natives something to aspire to. If they could learn to speak correct English and dress in proper clothes, if they could Anglicize and civilize themselves, one day they might be welcome in society. The Afrikaners never gave us that option. British racism said, “If the monkey can walk like a man and talk like a man, then perhaps he is a man.” Afrikaner racism said, “Why give a book to a monkey?”

FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS: We tell people to follow their dreams, but you can only dream of what you can imagine, and, depending on where you come from, your imagination can be quite limited.

WHY TEENS TURN TO CRIME: The hood made me realize that crime succeeds because crime does the one thing the government doesn’t do: crime cares. Crime is grassroots. Crime looks for the young kids who need support and a lifting hand. Crime offers internship programs and summer jobs and opportunities for advancement. Crime gets involved in the community. Crime doesn’t discriminate.

WARNING: When you get to the page that says, “All cats are witches,” (page 93 in my book) skip the rest of that section. It features horrific animal abuse and adds little to the story. Similarly, Chapter 18: My Mother’s Life can be skipped. It revisits the story already told with an emphasis on alcoholism and domestic violence.

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