Having taken myself back down memory lane through my
London visits earlier this year, then watching Steve McQueen’s Small Axe films
about the lives of West Indian immigrants in the London I’d spent time in: the
1970s …
… then Trevor Noah’s book ‘Born a Crime’, which Donna of Retirement Reflections had read during her recent time out to catch up with some books, and writing a review reminded me to read …
This again took me back … I was a naïve white 30 year
old setting out to travel and see life in other parts of the world … I got no
further than South Africa … I’m not a real wanderer – but I am so pleased I’ve
had that experience of living abroad and seeing other parts of southern Africa –
Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia …
I had no idea what exactly apartheid was … I hadn’t
been aware of divisions in life – but note at a late age, I was about to learn …
Trevor Noah’s book ‘Born A Crime’ really took me back
to living in South Africa, Johannesburg, and being able to share his
experiences through my remembrances from that other side of life.
The book hits me with its frontispiece detail: ‘Immorality
Act, 1927’ … with a sub-heading ‘To
prohibit illicit carnal intercourse between Europeans and natives and other
acts in relation thereto’, before a very brief explanation that this Act is
enacted by the King’s Most Excellent, Majesty, the Senate and the House of Assembly
of the Union of South Africa, as follows: -
Section 1 for the European male …
Section 2 for the native female …
I won’t go into the descriptions – enough said I was
shocked and horrified to read.
For me … he really takes me back to my side of life,
shown by him as he had to experience it … through his story telling as he grows
up … with each tale giving some background detail about different aspects …
 |
| Map showing dominant languages by area - see Wiki language section |
(Note black South Africans outnumbered white South
Africans nearly five to one).
 |
| Sign that was in Durban |
Noah divides the two groups of whites who oppressed
the non-white population … the British and the Afrikaners … the British gave a
glimmer of hope … learn to speak correct English and dress properly, then there
was hope for acceptance. Afrikaner
racism was much worse …
The stories are vignettes preceded by a note of
morality … mostly about his mother – her love of church and her insistence they
attend each Sunday, her knowledge of right and wrong, her ability to find ways
round the system to achieve her aims … but without jeopardising their lives (though
you might disagree with that with some of the things she did) – she found the
cracks, crept in and lived …
 |
| Performing on his 'Loud and Clear' tour in 2019. He is a comedian, tv host, author and more in the USA |
… or a preceding information page on the history, background about the peoples of Southern Africa …
… reminding me of when I first lived in Hillbrow – an inner city residential area on the ridge on which Johannesburg is sited … at that stage it was Apartheid-designated “whites only” … but soon became a “grey area” … where it was quite cosmopolitan.
 |
| Landing by Bartholomew Diaz in 1488 |
I’d better stop – otherwise Christmas will be here –
but Trevor Noah’s book does tie much together … he’s now in the States, having
been born in 1984 six years after I arrived in South Africa. I’ve never lived in the States, but had the privilege
of that year (2017) in Canada … so learnt and am still learning about those
countries.
 |
| Constitutional Court |
All I can say now – is thank you to Donna for reading ‘Born A Crime’ … which is an easy read – though tells its story, which may not be easy to read, and for which there is much to go back to and read again if one so wishes …
Trevor Noah Wiki article ...
Here's Donna's post in Retirement Reflections:
Joanne of Word Splash - Joanne Faries - her review of Trevor's book ...
Have a blessed and peaceful Christmas everyone ... take care and stay safe - with thoughts to one and all ...
Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories
