Born A Crime by Trevor Noah

First of all, Trevor was a naughty child. A naughty naughty boy. In fact, naughty could be an understatement. But he was also an industrious boy able to adapt and improvise to survive.

The book is centred on race and racial disparities. It is however not just another racial profiling book as it gives a different outlook to the racial divide that may not be too obvious to many. This is especially since he lived through Apartheid that was marred with racial inequality, and him not being able to fully identify with one definitive race. He is however able to study racism and identify the undertones of the privileges or lack thereof that comes with race. He simplifies the understanding of racism from the very obvious and complicated restrictions that are imposed to the smallest practices or laws enforced on the oppressed.

He gives an outlook of race from the oppressed and the oppressor’s view, how it is implemented, how it is entrenched through systems that dissolve to become a daily way of life, how it is executed and how it is survived. He also reveals how racism can go beyond the color of one’s skin. For instance, a language imposed on a people can be a weapon too. It can make you belong, or be an outcast even if you don’t look like the owners of the language. He shows how ethnicity is good but language imposed on a people can cause rifts.

The main act, the main star however in this book is his mother. He displays how her role in his life affected and effected him. Her, being a single mother, a tough one, in conditions not ideal and how she seamlessly but unintentionally wore the hat of both a mother and father to singlehandedly raise a child, a naughty, mischievous boy for that matter as well as his sibling. He shows how the weight of single motherhood is grossly underestimated. The shear will and zeal needed to survive, the ability to provide what is best with the little that is available. And in spite of the difficulty of raising a difficult child, women still strive to raise men who turn out to be respectable fine men of the society with a capacity to think effectively, reason sensibly enough to make a change or difference in the society.

Though Trevor’s life shows how race affects our day to day life, by favours and discriminations brought about to and by the oppressor and oppressed, he also shows how parenting is an important factor in shaping people’s lives and attitudes. Patricia seemed to be a firm mother who influenced Trevor’s life not just by what she said, but by what she did and her attitude towards life. The village that raised Trevor also showed him how race separated him from his peers. Because of his light brown skin, he, in his younger age learned about preferential treatment from his own people more than he did from the privileged race.

Trevor addresses, albeit with a lot of humour, the hardships faced by Africans in a way that one is both empathetic to the situation but still manages a smile. He gives an accurate description of the African culture, prides, customs and heritage. That which makes Africans who they are. He speaks of hope in seemingly hopeless situations, in the midst of intentional hardship imposed among a people. He shows how one can make the best out of little and how funny it is that the best can sometimes come out of the worst.  He manages to find humour in the hardship.

Trevor is hilarious, in a mundane kind of way. He manages to tickle you even in a sad situation. He describes despairing situations comically. He tackles being lonesome, difficulty in making friendships, adult segregation and decisions that affects kids indirectly. He talks of survival even when he is alone. He shows that you may be excruciatingly alone, but you have and can find a way to make it/ find some sort of happiness. Not just romantically, but relations that allow you to survive. After all, no man is an island

He also highlights the sense of community in the African set-up. Though poor, everybody always helps the less fortunate. The bereaved, the old lady in the corner, the sick who needs a bill paid e.t.c. But, he also shows how we live in a patriarchal society. Patricia, Trevor’s mom is depicted as one who did not fear the unknown, she was very able and willing to start from scratch when a situation was not working for her. She, being an independent woman, faced physical abuse for quite a long time before deciding she was done. The book shows how leaving an abusive man, even by the strongest of women is difficult. Also how it can happen to anyone, even the most formidable women even when the abuser is ‘beneath’ the abused. The most unfortunate thing however, is when a woman is physically abused, wherever she goes to seek help, be it family, friends or authorities, she has to first explain why and how she dint do anything wrong to ‘provoke’ abuse against her. She is first guilty of the crime against her and only after she has convinced the jury of her lack of fault in the assault will the jury consider probing her case with no guarantee of holding the abuser to account.

What I loved about the book was the positive outlook towards life. Trevor was never beaten or defeated by life’s unfairness, disparities, oppression or lack. He always found a solution to every problem. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, so much so that I learn the following but a few lessons learnt from Trevor Noah’s life through the book ‘Born a Crime’. I would highly recommend this book to all.

Lessons learnt:

There is always a way out.

Learn, adapt and move on.

The world is unfair but it need not make you unhappy.

Work with what you’ve got but aim for better.