Resources
Key Vocabulary
ANC African National Congress, a political party in South Africa that has been in power since the election of Nelson Mandela
Apartheid a policy of segregation by the South African government
Banning a tactic used by the South African government against people and groups who were anti-apartheid; activists were prohibited from travel and speech
Johannesburg major city and largest city in South Africa
Soweto a black township in Johannesburg; its acronym means South-Western Townships
Township racially segregated urban areas that were reserved for non-whites in South Africa
Xhosa second largest ethnic group in South Africa; Bantu language of the Xhosa people; one of the country’s official languages
Zulu a Bantu ethnic group that is the largest in South Africa
Helpful Picture Books for Students
Nelson Mandela Long Walk to Freedom by Chris VanWyk
Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson
Peaceful Protest The Life of Nelson Mandela by Yona Zeldis McDonough
Nelson Mandela South African President and Civil Rights Activist by Chris Well
Grandad Mandela by Zindzi, Zazi, & Ziwelene Mandela
Books and Essays
Nelson Mandela In His Own Words by Nelson Mandela
Major Themes in It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime
Major Themes
Noah weaves complex themes throughout the memoir. Studying the examples of theme in a nonfiction piece of writing will demonstrate to students how to use theme in their own writing. The major themes are interwoven through different chapter. Although the memoir is not written in a linear timeline of his life, the themes connect his writings into a cohesive body of work.
Language
In South Africa there are eleven official languages. Several other languages are spoken by different tribes. Apartheid systematically separated and isolated tribes from one another. The purpose was to exasperate tension and strife among the groups. Growing up Trevor often felt like an outsider. His mother and family were Xhosa, but he did not look like the rest of his family. Trevor is a polyglot, a person who commands many languages. Maneuvering through the world with the ability to exchange conversations easily giving him a since of belonging. He refers to himself as a “chameleon” being able to blend in with different groups through language. 19
In Chapter 7 “Chameleon”, Noah says, “I soon learned that the quickest way to bridge the race gap was through language.” He describes a scene where he a group of Zulu guys were walking behind him down the street. Trevor overhears them planning to rob him. He quickly turns around and speaks to them in Zulu surprising them. Consequently, young men leave him alone. Next he says, “I became a chameleon. My color didn’t change, but I could change your perception of my color. I didn’t look like you, but if I spoke like you, I was you.”
In Chapter 13, “A Young Man’s Long, Awkward, Occasionally Tragic, and Frequently Humiliating Education in Affairs of the Heart, Part II: The Dance”, Trevor tells a story of taking a date to the dance. When they arrive to the dance, his date Bakiki refuses to go inside with him. Finally, with the help of a friend, Trevor realizes his date did not know how to speak English. He tries speaking his many languages realizes she speaks a language she does not know. The chapter ends with Trevor taking the girl home and her giving him a kiss goodnight. Puzzled that he “has no idea how to understand girls” Trevor realizes the language barrier does not keep him from making a connection with Bakiki.
Identity and Belonging
Trevor’s existence was illegal during Apartheid. He was the physical manifestation of his parents’ “crime”. He always feels like an outsider as he moves through different communities. His skin tone is light brown is referred to as “colored” in South Africa. However, many South Africans had never seen an actual white person in person. Because he was the lightest person in his community, some people thought of him as white, even his own family members. He mentions how his own family members gave him special treatment because he was a “white” kid. His grandparents, aunts, and uncles were afraid to discipline him.
In Chapter 11 “Outsider”, Noah navigates fitting in at school. After finding his niche as the “tuckshop” guy, he writes, “Since I belonged to no group I learned to move seamlessly between groups. I floated. I was a chameleon, still, a cultural chameleon.” 20
Racism and Apartheid
Apartheid hangs over South Africa like a shadow. The reason Trevor feels like an outsider is because of his lack of ability to live as a normal kid being mixed raced under Apartheid. In the introduction to Chapter 2 Born a Crime, Noah says, “Apartheid was a police state, a system of surveillance and laws designed to keep black people under control…In America you had the forced removal of the native peoples onto reservations coupled with slavery followed by segregation. Imagine all three of those things happening to the same group of people at the same time. That was apartheid.” 21
In Chapter he describes how he was unable to be seen in public with his parents. He says,
“Where most children are proof of their parents’ love, I was proof of their criminality. The only time I could be seen with my father was indoors…I couldn’t walk with my mother either; a light skinned child with a black woman would raise too many questions.” 22
Later, he describes the end of Apartheid,
“The end of apartheid was a gradual thing. It wasn’t like the Berlin Wall where one day it just came down. Apartheid’s walls cracked and crumbled over many years. Concessions were made here and there, some laws were repealed, others simply weren’t enforced. There came a point, in the months before Mandela’s release, when we could live less furtively.” 23
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