South African Apartheid: Key Terms and Personal Narratives

bantustans

undeveloped tribal homelands during apartheid to gather black South Africans

townships

minimally developed urban areas (often surrounding cities) in which black South Africans were grouped during apartheid

Soweto

a township engineered during apartheid to contain & control black South Africans

Alexandra

a township in which TN spent several years after high school hustling with friends to make money with various music and money loaning schemes

Johannesburg

a big city where many fathers traveled to work, leaving their children in the townships

Maryvale College

a private Catholic elementary school which TN attended & which was surprisingly racially mixed

H.A. Jack Primary

a junior high attended by TN in which he is forced to proclaim his identity as black

Sandringham

TN's high school in which he "belongs nowhere but is accepted everywhere"

Mighty Mechanics

the family garage business in which TN worked and often slept

jail (not prison)

where TN fronts as a colored gangster & befriends the Hulk

Andrew

a white friend who gifts TN a CD writer in high school

Teddy

TN's best friend during grade school with whom he got up to naughty shenanigans

Bongani

TN's high school friend who helps him grow his music and other money schemes

Isaac

child born to PN when she is 44 after she's had her tubes tied

Abel

a brilliant mechanic but an angry and violent drunk

Robert

opened a restaurant post-apartheid in which all races were allowed to dine

Maylene

breaks TN's heart in junior high

Zaheera

the first human who never reveals his desire for until it's too late & she moves away

Babiki

TN's date to the "matric" dance (aka Senior Prom) set up by his friend

Mlungisi

TN's more rule-abiding cousin with whom he shared an apartment after high school

the term "colored" in South Africa

a term under apartheid describing someone who has a black parent and a white parent, an identity punishable under apartheid OR both parents of this identity

the term "colored" in the United States

an outdated term describing any person with even a drop of African blood/heritage

Afrikaans language

the language spoken by South Africans descended from Dutch colonizers

tuck shop

the place in high school in which people bought their lunches which becomes the source of TN's first successful capitalist venture

Xhosa South African

TN's mother's identity

Swiss-German South African

TN's father's identity

Patricia Nombuyiselo (name meaning)

name means "She Who Gives Back"

Trevor (name meaning)

name doesn't have a tribal meaning or family association

"Black Tax"

term used to describe how economic burdens keep poor people in a poverty loop

"cheese"

describes middle-class black people who want to seem like they're from "the hood"

Fufi

the source of TN's first true heartbreak

Grandmother

cannot bear to beat TN as punishment because he "is a white child"

Patricia Noah

makes a joke out of being shot in the head

Worst thing TN did as a child

burned down the house of a white family who employed a friend he was playing with

Benefit of racism: mom

denies being related to a child in a grocery store because the child will not stoop to begging for a treat

Benefit of racism: TN

is not caught when security footage captures him stealing from a mall store

Mopane worms

markets the lowest of the low in terms of food people eat when they are broke

South African Police

never file a report for domestic violence despite 3 occasions of abuse

Ability to speak multiple languages

why TN is not mugged on the street

Mulberry tree

marks the 1st time TN sees the brutality Abel is capable of