It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime

It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime is a memoir highlighting Trevor’s experiences growing up in apartheid South Africa, under a system Trevor describes as “perfect racism.” Trevor was born in 1984 to a stubborn and rebellious mother and a White Swiss-German expatriate. Under apartheid, people of different races were forbidden from being together; hence Trevor’s mere existence was evidence of his parents’ crime. Under apartheid, the ruling White Afrikaners divided people up by race, created settlements for each group to live in, forced their relocation to these settlements, and created vast borders to physically keep people separate from each other. Trevor’s mother, Patricia, actively broke the laws of apartheid to create better life opportunities for herself and her son. Trevor tells the story of his childhood in vignettes that are filled with his witty humor, expressing the difficulties of presenting as a multiracial person while feeling like a Black person. He explores relatable and classic coming-of-age stories from his unique perspective, sharing the trials and tribulations of bullying, trying to fit in, dating, making money, and familial conflict. The book ends the same way as it begins—with mother and son laughing in the wake of intensity, violence, and conflict.