Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

by Trevor Noah
Hennepin County Library hardcover 285 pages
genre: non-fiction memoir

This was a very interesting book to read, even though I didn't know who Trevor Noah was in modern culture's context! He's a very handsome young man who is clearly popular in America (even though I didn't know about him until reading this book and then googling him.) Trevor's mom is black and his dad is white. As a light-skinned man raised in Apartheid, then post-Apartheid South Africa, he has a very unique perspective on race.

Page 25 - "As far as her white neighbors knew, my mom could have been a spy posing as a prostitute posing as a maid, sent into Hillbrow to inform on whites who were breaking the law. That's how a police state works - everyone thinks everyone else is the police." This gave me chills - so much like Nazi Germany - and it made me very thankful that I don't live in this place of fear.

Page 52 - "There were so many perks to being 'white' in a black family, I can't even front. I was having a great time. My own family basically did what the American justice system does: I was given more lenient treatment than the black kids. Misbehavior that my cousins would have been punished for, I was given a warning and let off. And I was way naughtier than either of my cousins." This is so sad, but I recognize the truth of it. I get frustrated with white people saying white privilege doesn't exist! If you are the one who is privileged, you don't experience the injustice of being treated unfairly!

Page 54 - "I soon learned that the quickest way to bridge the race gap was through language." I loved his stories about using language (English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, etc.) to connect with people. This is so powerful! I should just scan and post a few pages . . . but I'll move on. The "Chameleon" chapter has so many excellent lines and stories about communication and connecting with different groups of people.

Page 56/7 - "But the real world doesn't go away. Racism exists. People are getting hurt, and just because it's not happening to you doesn't mean it's not happening. And at some point, you have to choose. Black or white. Pick a side. You can try to hide from it. You can say, 'Oh, I don't pick sides,' but at some point life will force you to pick a side."

Page 72 - "As modestly as we lived at home, I never felt poor because our lives were so rich with experience." I credit his mother with her amazing attitude and the way she raised him! Fantastic.

Page 73 - "My mother showed me what was possible. The thing that always amazed me about her life was that no one showed her. No one chose her. She did it on her own. She found her way through sheer force of will."

Page 110 - "I walked out of his house that day an inch taller. Seeing him had reaffirmed his choosing of me. He chose to have me in his life. He chose to answer my letter. I was wanted. Being chosen is the greatest gift you can give to another human being." His dad was such an interesting person! I'm really glad that Trevor was able to connect with him. What a difference a caring parent (even from a distance) can make in a person's life.

Page 195 - "There is also this to consider: The name Hitler does not offend a black South African because Hitler is not the worst thing a black South African can imagine. Every country thinks their history is the most important, and that's especially true in the West. But if black South Africans could go back in time and kill one person, Cecil Rhodes would come up before Hitler. If people in the Congo could go back in time and kill one person, Belgium's King Leopold would come way before Hitler. If Native Americans could go back in time and kill one person, it would probably be Christopher Columbus or Andrew Jackson." This paragraph is part of the reason I *need* to read books from different points of view! This really made me think. Every time I think of the most evil person ever, Adolf Hitler is the name that comes to mind. For that name to *not* be seen as horrible, I thought you must be a neo-Nazi and actually admire the man. But for others from a completely different perspective, it simply doesn't hold that meaning or power. I think of the difference between this perspective from a young man who was friends with a boy named Hitler and the fiction book read by my book club a few months ago . . .

Page 209 - "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." Again, this was a perspective that I had not even considered! His experience with crime certainly backs up the points he makes. I think for those of us who have not struggled with poverty, racism, and hopelessness, it's hard to see this point of view. The author is effective in communicating it!

Page 222 - "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. It would be a whole lot harder for an investment banker to rip off people with subprime mortgages if he actually had to live with the people he was ripping off. 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."

Page 225 - "Once, when I was ten years old, visiting my dad in Yeoville, I needed batteries for one of my toys. My mom had refused to buy me new batteries because, of course, she thought it was a waste of money, so I snuck out to the shops and shoplifted a pack. A security guard busted me on the way out, pulled me into his office, and called my mom. . . . . 'Take him to jail. If he's going to disobey he needs to learn the consequences.' Then she hung up. The guard looked at me, confused. Eventually he let me go on the assumption that I was some wayward orphan, because what mother would send her ten-year-old child to jail?" I love his mom!!! She is an amazing woman!

When I got to the end of the book, I wanted to know more (especially about his mom) and went online. There's a lot about Trevor Noah online! I'm glad I read this book.



I listened to the audiobook (read by Trevor Noah). I forgot how much he swears! Lots of F-bombs and other language. I still really admire his mom - what an amazing woman! I'm still appreciative of his book and getting a window into his experiences in South Africa. I wish the book had been better edited, though. I'm fine with it not being chronological, but at times it is repetitive, contradictory, or just confusing. For example, he talks about Abel not allowing them to keep the dogs. Then a bit later, he talks about Abel kicking the dogs. And he retells about how Abel came into their lives. I think the stories would flow better with good editing. Still, he's an incredible young man with a unique perspective.