Born a Crime Study Guide

Which of the following is NOT one of the main groups living in South Africa?

Hestens

According to Trevor Noah, the two largest black groups in South Africa are the Xhosa and Zulu... Which group is considered the "warrior"?

Zulu

According to Trevor Noah, the two largest black groups in South Africa are the Xhosa and Zulu... Which group is considered the "thinker"?

Xhosa

Nelson Mandela was a prominent activist against the racism in South Africa... He was from which tribe?

Xhosa

What crime had Trevor Noah's mother committed?

Relationship between a black person and a white person

When Noah was a child, why was he kept indoors?

His mother could be arrested if he was found by police

For non-white people in South Africa, men/fathers tend to be absent because:

Laws keep non-white children from seeing white fathers and Non-white fathers often have to work in mines that are far from home

Trevor Noah says that when/where he was growing up, men were supposed to be

Powerful and dominating, especially in their home and over their wives

Noah's experience of religion included

Multiple church services and prayer meetings every week

Noah's grandmother thought his prayers were especially powerful because

Noah was partly white and could pray/read the Bible in English, and God seemed to listen to the white English-speaking people who had brought the Bible to South Africa

Because Trevor Noah was "mixed" (had a white father and a black mother), he was treated differently. This included

His cousins would get in trouble but he wouldn't; Other people in the community treated him as white and gave him special treatment

Because Trevor Noah's mother was the second girl in the family, she wasn't as important to her family as her older sister or her younger brother; as a result she was sent to:

To the family farm on the "homelands" ("the original home of South Africa's tribes") to live with other family children that weren't wanted

Trevor Noah's mother got an education and learned English; as a result, she made more money as a secretary than anyone else in her family was making. What did she do with that money?

She had to hand over all that money to her family so that they could buy necessities: a refrigerator, an oven, etc.

What is the "black tax" that Noah's mother talked about?

The money you have to spend helping your family get back to living a normal life instead of using it to help yourself get ahead

Which of the following are lessons Trevor Noah learned from his mother?

To read; To think; That you don't have to live the role society expects of you

During Apartheid, Chinese people in South Africa were officially classified as:

Black

During Apartheid, Japanese people in South Africa were officially classified as white; this is because:

The South African government wanted to import goods, like cars, from Japan, so it granted its Japanese citizens "white" status

Noah and his mother shared two character traits that he says helped them both face the many injustices of life in South Africa:

The ability to let go of pain and learn from it; Questioning rules that don't make sense and going around them

What lesson did Noah learn from his deaf dog Fufi?

You don't own the person/thing you love

When it comes to Trevor Noah's relationship with his father, his mother:

Told him that he needed to reconnect with his father and to know what it meant to have a father

Trevor Noah's father:

Had been following all the news about his son's career

According to Trevor Noah, Colored people in South Africa are the descendents of the native tribe, the enslaved Black people, the Indian immigrants, and white colonists all mixed. Their story is "worse than the history of black people in South Africa" because:

They don't have a clear identity

The South African government had a "pencil test:" they stuck a pencil in your hair to see if it would fall out. What was the purpose of this test?

To be reclassified as "white," "black," or "colored"

This system of redesignating a person as a different "color" meant that:

Darker people could be demoted; white-looking people could be promoted; families might be split up

Technically, Trevor Noah was Mixed (black and white) rather than Colored (complex ethnic background); this affected his upbringing and his position in society. How was he treated in a Colored neighborhood?

He was bullied because he spoke English better than Afrikaans (the language most commonly spoken by Colored people)

When Trevor Noah was in middle school, the girls insisted he should ask out Maylene because:

They were the only two in school that "looked the same"

What does Trevor Noah start doing in high school that makes him feel like he was "everywhere with everybody, and at the same time I was all by myself"?

Making deals with other students to buy them food at the concession stand so they don't have to stand in line

What lesson did Noah learn by not asking out Zaheera in high school?

"Regret is the thing we should fear most"

Noah and his friend stole chocolates at the mall and were spotted by a security guard; the security guards at the mall knew Trevor Noah so he hid his face, but he was caught on camera. Why did he get away with it?

Because his friend was darker than him, Noah looked white on the video; the authorities, even his teachers, didn't recognize him

What is Noah's critique of the saying, "Teach a man to fish, and he'll eat for a lifetime"?

You have to give the man a fishing rod

Trevor Noah and his friends were kicked out of a Jewish school while DJing. At the time, he thought the teacher was racist... But he and his friends were chanting their friend's name, which was:

Hitler

While Trevor Noah was making money in "the hood," he learned two things:

Crime helps everybody in the hood; He had other options, but many of his friends would never be able to leave

When Noah was arrested, his lawyer and his bail were paid by:

His mom

When Abel married Trevor Noah's mom:

He wanted a cultural ideal; became violent; mismanaged business; had two sons

Noah's mother divorced Abel so that she wouldn't be responsible for his debts, but she didn't leave him because:

Because if I leave he'll kill us.

When Abel was violent, the police:

Refused to do anything

Trevor Noah's mother was shot by:

Abel

She was shot:

In the leg and the back of the head

She survived because:

The bullet somehow missed everything and went out the other side

Abel was sentenced to 3 years' probation and is walking free in South Africa today because:

He convinced the judge he needed to support his sons; his wife survived; he pled guilty

Why did Trevor call his dad "Robert," not "Dad"?

Trevor called him "Robert" because it would have been dangerous for Trevor to call him "Dad" in public since Trevor was a mixed race child at a time when it was illegal for him to be one in South Africa.

Noah writes that African Christmas and European Christmas are different in all of the following ways except which? According to Noah, which of these statements isn't true?

African Christmas is more extravagant or lavish than European Christmas.

Why does Trevor's father Robert think that racism in South Africa is ironic?

He thinks racism in South Africa is ironic because black people are everywhere there.

When Trevor's dad Robert and he reunite ten years later, what can the scrapbook that Robert shows him symbolize?

Robert's love and pride for his son, Trevor

When Trevor writes that his father Robert was "caring and devoted [but] at the same time he was a closed book," what does Noah imply about his father with this metaphor?

Noah implies that Robert was a quiet, introverted, or reserved person.

Generally, what is Trevor Noah's tone about apartheid in South Africa?

He thought it was illogical and foolish.

What is ironic about how white people treat dogs vs. Africans in South Africa?

White people treat dogs better than they treat Africans in South Africa.