Born a Crime

How was Noah’s upbringing complicated by living in a “police state,” particularly as a colored child? What did he learn about apartheid, about how police treated whites as opposed to how they treated coloreds and other nonwhite people, and about the risk his parents took simply by having a child together? What specific examples from the text are most important to understanding his explanation of this aspect of his childhood—that is, growing up colored in the apartheid-era police state?

Noah describes languages in South Africa as a hierarchy, where “English comprehension is equated with intelligence” (p. 54). He explains: “I learned to use language like my mother did . . . It became a tool that served me my whole life” (p. 55). He even asserts that “language, even more than color, defines who you are to people” (p. 56). Do you agree with Noah’s assessment of the importance of language? What do his claims suggest about the power of language and the values placed on certain languages over others?

Despite his primary school teacher’s recommendation that he remain in the advanced, whitedominated classes, Noah opts to take lower-level classes with black students instead. He writes, 4 “With the black kids, I wasn’t constantly trying to be. With the black kids, I just was” (p. 59). What does this suggest about identity and belonging, especially in light of Noah’s interracial identity?

List all of the different neighborhoods in which Noah lived and their respective characteristics. In his own estimation, what were the advantages and disadvantages of each place? How did each location shape his identity? What does this suggest about the influence and importance of being grounded in a particular place and time (that is, why did it matter that he was a young colored boy in a white neighborhood during the post-apartheid era?) What lessons did he have to learn, growing up in that time and place?

Noah’s mother insists that he have a relationship with his father: “‘Because he’s a piece of you,’ she said, ‘and if you don’t find him you won’t find yourself’” (p. 101). Explore the importance of Noah’s decision to forge a relationship with his father, Robert. Focus on the moment when Robert shows him the scrapbook of Noah’s accomplishments, and then compare that to Noah’s assertion that “Being chosen is the greatest gift you can give to another human being” (p. 110).

What conclusions can you draw about what Noah learned from his friend Andrew? What was the value of what Noah learned outside of school, as compared to in school? Interpret Noah’s conclusion that “Working with Andrew was the first time in my life I realized you need someone from the privileged world to come to you and say, ‘Okay, here’s what you need, and here’s how it works’” (p. 190).

Noah is dismayed when his stepfather, Abel, begins abusing him and his mother. Noah also learns a hard lesson about how South African society viewed female domestic violence victims when he saw how the local police discredited his mother’s claims of abuse. Eventually, his mother leaves Abel after he nearly kills her. Discuss how you think this part of his life affected Noah’s future, particularly given his mother’s wishes for him to live a life better than her own. How did this experience of abuse shape him and his relationship with his mother?

Note all the ways in which Noah participated in the underground economy of Alexandra, from pirating music to selling CDs and DJing parties. How do his detailed descriptions of his time in Alexandra complicate your assumptions about crime and poverty? Consider Noah’s explanation: “The hood made me realize that crime succeeds because crime does the one thing the government doesn’t do: crime cares. Crime is grassroots. Crime looks for the 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” (p. 209). Do you agree with Noah’s opinion of crime as described here?

“My mother showed me what was possible,” Noah writes (p. 73). Noah’s mother offers him advice and lessons throughout his life. Collect these lessons and pieces of advice from throughout the book and evaluate them. Which ones seemed to benefit Noah most? Which ones did not? Collectively, what does his mother’s advice help the reader understand about their relationship? How did this advice impact his identity and sense of self?

Noah has an epiphany when, about to sell a stolen digital camera, he looks at the pictures on it and has second thoughts. He reflects, “In society, we do horrible things to one another because we don’t see the person it affects. We don’t see their face. We don’t see them as people. Which was the whole reason the hood was built in the first place, to keep the victims of apartheid out of sight and out of mind. Because if white people ever saw black people as human, they would see that slavery is unconscionable. We live in a world where we don’t see the ramification of what we do to others, because we don’t live with them” (pp. 221–22). What does this reflection suggest about the nature of guilt and how it influenced Noah’s development and maturation? More broadly, what do his words suggest about the legacy of racism for South Africans?

The men in Noah’s life included his father, Robert, and his stepfather, Abel. Noah also had a peer group of young men throughout his adolescence. Compare these relationships, noting the impact of each on Noah, particularly as related to models of masculinity. What did Noah learn from each of them? What are the challenges and benefits of each of these relationships for Noah?

Noah compares the teaching of the Holocaust to German students to the teaching of apartheid to South African students. He recalls: “In South Africa, the atrocities of apartheid have never been taught that way. We weren’t taught judgment or shame. . . . Facts, but not many, and never the emotional or moral dimension” (p. 185). Given his assertion, how does Born a Crime complicate how apartheid history might be taught, and why that history should include narratives like Noah’s? What does his account suggest about how historical memory is preserved for some groups and not for others? What does his story suggest about the importance of including an emotional or moral dimension in these historical accounts?