Week 2 Assignment – Nev McDowell

I am writing about Trevor Noah’s “Born a crime”. This autobiography goes through him living in South Africa during a time where he was not recognized by his people simply because he looked different. Central ideas raised in this text is proving to others your worth and fighting for your belonging. Trevor had a mother who was black and a father who was white. This was viewed as very strange and basically looked down upon during that time in Apartheid South Africa. The people in Noah’s tribe or even land was much darker from him. Even despite speaking their native tongue, Noah faced many obstacles  just to be viewed as them. This is connected to modern day society as well. Many people constantly fight and protest and have to prove themselves as worthy just to have a stabilized life. This can range from different skin tones and speaking a certain language to practicing a religion or even sexuality. “They were ready to do me violent harm, until they felt we were part of the same tribe, and then we were cool” (56). Noah almost got robbed because of his complexion and if he haven’t proven to the kids that he was one of them just lighter, it would of amounted to a different result for him at the end. I chose this text because I live the same life style of constantly having to prove to people or just in general that certain things regarding my practice, skin tone, sexuality, and overall worth can’t define my goals or success. It is important for everyone to not judge or view people so broadly and to further investigate the person character.