Born A Crime

Born A Crime will inspire you to make great things happen no matter what circumstances you’re born into by revealing the story of how Trevor Noah grew up as a mixed child in South Africa on the way to becoming an adult.

One of the laws during apartheid, a period of segregation in South Africa, was that there should be no interracial sex. Authorities would imprison men and women who broke this rule. They were even known to look inside windows to make sure no illegal relations were taking place behind closed doors.

Noah was born into this world in 1984. His father was a white man of Dutch descent, and his mother was a black woman of the Xhosa tribe. This made his very existence proof of the crime they had committed.

Because of this, his father couldn’t be seen around him and his mother had to be careful. If authorities came around, she would have to put him down and pretend he wasn’t her child.

He spent much of his childhood alone, but it didn’t bother him as he enjoyed playing by himself. Though he grew up in poverty, his mother taught him many languages, including English, something she knew would give him an advantage when he was older.

Trevor‘s mother also wanted to make sure he didn’t have to pay what she called the “black tax.” This was the money spent by black kids to make up for their parents’ poverty, which passed on to each next generation, making it impossible to escape.

She spent what little money she had on books for him and a lot of time teaching him how to navigate the racist world they lived in. Though he was smart, Noah was a rascal. He often got himself into trouble for his love of knives and pyrotechnics. He recalls getting spanked by his mother for his mischievous behavior, but he knows now it was coming from a place of love.

In 1991, a year after Nelson Mandela was freed from his life sentence, apartheid finally came to an end. But though it was over, a whole new range of problems came. At the end of apartheid, there came a power struggle over who was actually in charge. The two tribes, Zulus and Xhosas, fought. Many people died. Though things were dangerous, Noah’s mother was strong. He tells the story of one time when they had to take the bus to church because their car wouldn’t work. The buses were extremely dangerous because of the turf wars being fought over the routes. On their way home, the Zulu bus driver and Noah’s Xhosa mom got in an argument. When the driver told his mom…