SSF Book Club October 2020 Born a Crime by Trevor Noah: Discussion Guide

Noah's path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother, at the time such a union was punishable by five years in prison. As he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist, his mother is determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life. With an incisive wit and unflinching honesty, Noah weaves together a moving yet searingly funny portrait of a boy making his way through a damaged world in a dangerous time. SSF Book Club October 2020 Born a Crime by Trevor Noah: Go Beyond the Book

New York Times Book Review https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/28/books/review- born-a-crime-trevor-noahs-raw-account-of-life- under-apartheid.html Guardian Book Review https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/25/bor n-a-crime-trevor-noah-south-africa-townships-daily- show Interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air https://www.npr.org/transcripts/503009220 Life's Work: An Interview with Trevor Noah https://hbr.org/2018/09/lifes-work-an-interview-with- trevor-noah Trevor Noah: Born a Crime Interview (with Cory Booker) https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=dEsWOZjjVt8&feature=youtu.be History of Apartheid in South Africa https://www.history.com/topics/africa/apartheid The End of South African Apartheid https://www.thoughtco.com/when-did-apartheid- end-43456 SSF Book Club Discussion Questions Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

Please note: These discussion questions may include spoilers! Trevor Noah begins the book about being thrown from a moving car. Why do you think he chose to begin his narrative with this anecdote? Trevor describes apartheid as “institutional racism.” How much did you know about apartheid before reading this book? Were there any details that surprised you? Trevor 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 Trevor'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? SSF Book Club Discussion Questions Born a Crime by Trevor Noah What are some of your favorite funny anecdotes from this memoir? What other moments stand out to you? Trevor talks at length about how he didn’t exactly fit in because he was mixed-race but lived with a Black mother and family. Discuss how he was viewed in South Africa, and how he is viewed here in the U.S. Do his experiences as a biracial kid and teen have parallels in the U.S.? Did you like the book? What surprised you? Would you recommend it to friends? Trevor's story and struggles deal with big topics that aren’t really all that funny: apartheid, racism, poverty, domestic abuse, crime, and danger. And yet, most readers would agree that this is a very funny book. How do you think that Trevor is able to maintain such a good sense of humor about these circumstances? Do you think he’s an optimist? Discuss Trevor's relationship with his father. Does Trevor feel good about it? How does Patricia, Trevor's mom, challenge Trevor to think for himself and stand up for himself? SSF Book Club Discussion Questions Born a Crime by Trevor Noah Trevor writes that his relationship with Abel was full of both love and hate. How were Trevor and his mother able to forget about Abel’s beatings, and move on? Were you surprised by their ability to do this? Why do you think women are often blamed for staying in violent relationships, rather than offered the support and resources they need to leave their abusers? Why do the police refuse to charge Abel with any crimes when Trevor’s mother reports him for abuse? How do the police treat Trevor’s mother? Were you surprised to read about this kind of response to domestic violence? Why or why not? Trevor opens Born a Crime with the Immorality Act of 1927, which banned sexual intercourse between unmarried white people and black people. What was your initial response to this passage? As the son of a Xhosa mother and a Swiss-German father, how did Trevor have to navigate South African society? How did Trevor’s mother overcome or subvert the geographical boundaries put in place by the apartheid system? SSF Book Club Discussion Questions Born a Crime by Trevor Noah How and why does Trevor’s mother change her parenting style with Trevor’s younger brother? Discuss the role of religion in Trevor’s family’s life. Why did he and his mother attend so many services and what did they get from each? How do Trevor and his mother view the importance of religion? Although Trevor's experiences in this book are rooted in South Africa, what do you think readers can take away and apply to current race relations in the U.S.?

Resources: TBR Discussion Questions Penguin Random House Teacher's Guide Penguin Random House Common Reading Guide GoodReads