Processing Born a Crime

photo from qz.com

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah was very satisfying to read because I love thinking about identity, culture and race. He was born in South Africa to a white father and a black mother. He is now in the U.S. and has his own comedy show. He wrote this book about his childhood. People kept telling me to read his book after I wrote the pieces on race ( Incomplete thoughts on race, More incomplete thoughts on race and final incomplete thoughts on race). Trevor Noah is a kindred spirit in many ways. I really enjoyed his thoughts on race and culture.

I do not watch a lot of modern comedy, so I don’t know his show. I did accidentally grab the Junior edition and I am so glad because I heard the regular version is rough. I also am glad because you can read this with kids, nieces, nephews or young friends, right?

I really recommend this book if you have not read it and especially if you live cross culturally. I have included a few favorite quotes and thoughts.

“In my class we had all kinds of kids… I had a wide berth to explore myself. I had crushes on white girls. I had crushes on black girls. Nobody asked me what I was. I was Trevor.”

I love this quote because he doesn’t fit any profile.

“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.”

“Being at H.A. Jack made me realize I was black. Before that recess I’d never had to choose, but when I was forced to choose, I chose black…. Because I had a white father, because I’d been in white Sunday school, I got along with the white kids, but I didn’t belong with the white kids. I wasn’t part of their tribe. But the black kids embraced me. With the black kids, I wasn’t constantly trying to be. With the black kids, I just was.”

I love these stories because he tried to be neutral and found it didn’t work. How do you embrace your own cultural identity and not “compete” or disrespect others? It was so interesting “watching” him navigate.

“The black kids were fascinated. It wasn’t common to find a white or colored person who spoke African languages. The fact that I did speak them immediately endeared me to the black kids.”

I remember that living in Uganda as a white person could be so tedious. You always stand out and people are always watching you and making assumptions! Being able to speak a local language is so powerful and can overcome some of these barriers. We lived in a remote area, but it was also the last stop to visit mountain gorillas, so people in town were used to seeing white people. I could walk for 15 minutes and encounter children who had rarely seen white people. Once, I was on a walk and I spoke to this little girl in Rukiga and she did a double take. She asked me if I was Mukiga (local) or Muzungu (white)-that shocked me. Language is powerful.

“Being chosen is the greatest gift you can give to another human being.”

This is such a deep longing for all of us.

“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.’ That’s the part of the analogy that is missing.”

“one of the very first things I learned in the hood is that there is a very fine line between civilian and criminal. We like to believe we live in a world of good guys and bad guys, and in the suburbs it’s easy to believe that, because getting to know a career criminal in the suburbs is a difficult thing.But then you go to the hood and you see there are so many shades between.”

“Crime is grass roots. Crime looks for 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.”

These three quotes really challenged me. Programs have many good intentions, but come with unintended consequences. That’s why we need more help and advocacy from the community members themselves. It’s true for education, too. Teachers and those on the ground should be making curriculum and policy, not politicians who have never taught.

So, not to spoil, but he absolutely has no tidy ending!! I really hope a second book is in the works, as it was NOT an American ending! Mr. Noah, we need closure.