In recent years Trevor Noah has been a rising comedic sensation. He has a direct approach to addressing many real world issues, especially in relation to race inequality, with a comedic edge (for example). This led to his rise as an internationally regarded stand-up comedian, and in 2015 Trevor Noah replaced Jon Stewart as host of The Daily Show on the Comedy Central network. Although best known as the host of The Daily Show, the Comedian Trevor Noah recently displayed another talent, writing, when he released his autobiography “Born a Crime: Stories of a South African Childhood”. In his autobiography, Noah depicts his childhood in South Africa. His story is not one of an easy childhood, but instead filled with hardship, confusion, and a search for belonging. However, he does not present his story as one of resentment or anger, but instead as the reason he became who he is.

When Trevor Noah was born in 1984 South Africa was still ruled by the laws of Apartheid, and even after Nelson Mandala was released and democracy finally prevailed in 1990, racism still had a major impact. Apartheid was the South African governments way of institutionalizing racism by segregating blacks and whites through forcibly relocating blacks into impoverished pieces of land called townships. This segregation was accompanied by other laws meant to impose feelings of difference and resentment between the races, including banning interracial sexual relations (History.com Staff). Being born to a Black Xhosa mother and White Swiss-German father violated these laws; consequently, Trevor Noah’s sheer existence was a crime. Growing up, Noah remembers times when he could not be seen with either of his parents out of fear of being discovered by the police. In addition to outlawing interracial relations, the South African government invoked the Population Registration Act of 1950 which required the classification of all South Africans by race. For Noah, he did not feel as though he fit into the “coloured” race that the government defined him as because he didn’t grow up around other coloured children. He didn’t identify as coloured then, but at the same time he felt “too white to be black, and too black to be white” (Noah, 121). Throughout his book Trevor Noah emphasizes the feeling of belonging nowhere. The government, through its strict racial segregation and classification, created an environment where marginalized people simply didn’t belong.

By writing his autobiography “Born a Crime”, Trevor Noah is reclaiming his individuality that the government took away. Noah learnt at an early age that he could “use language to bridge the gap between race”; therefore, he learnt many of the languages spoken in South Africa (Noah, 74). Since Noah never felt like he belonged be learnt to fit in everywhere by moving across racial groups through his use of language and humour. He recognized the importance of language in overcoming differences as can be seen by his statement “when you make the effort to speak someone else’s language, even if it’s just basic phrases here and there, you are saying to them, ‘I understand that you have a culture and identity that exists beyond me. I see you as a human being” (Noah, 38). This appreciation of language as a tool for self-expression is an important reason for his writing an autobiography. One of the important features of writing an autobiography is that it allows the author to be in charge of their own self representation. No longer is Noah defined by the colour of his skin, but by writing about his experiences he is able to tell the “personal story of survival, using insight and wit, to expose apartheid – its legacy, its pettiness, its small-minded stupidity, and its damage—more than any other history book” (Marianne Thamm). Therefore, Noah gives voice to the marginalized groups in South Africa through his autobiography. “Born a Crime” has been widely accepted and celebrated as an important work commemorating the impact of the apartheid in South Africa (New York Times, Daily Maverick). This instant success may have been influenced by Noah’s already established position of “celebrity” in the West, which raises question to who has the ability to be heard when publishing their autobiography. Since Noah is already a respected public figure with a history for speaking his mind, the public is more willing to regard his autobiography with authority. In turn, this recognition that Noah can be seen as a reliable source leads the public to be interested in the issues he writes about.

 

 

Works Cited

 

Noah, Trevor. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2016. Print.

 

Kakutani, Michiko. ‘Born a Crime,’ Trevor Noah’s Raw Account of Life Under Apartheid. New York Times. November, 28, 2016. Web. 12 Jan 2017.  https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/28/books/review-born-a-crime-trevor-noahs-raw-account-of-life-under-apartheid.html

 

Marianne Thamm. Born a Crime: Trevor Noah’s journey past the scars and the stars. Daily Maverick. November 22, 2016. Web. 12 Jan 2017.  https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2016-11-22-born-a-crime-trevor-noah-journey-past-the-scars-and-the-stars/#.WHj_xKIrKqB

 

History.com Staff. APARTHEID. History.com. 2010. Web. 12 Jan 2017. http://www.history.com/topics/apartheid

 

Noah, Trevor. “Official Site of Comedian and Daily Show Host Trevor Noah.” Trevor Noah. David Paul Meyer, 2012. Web. 12 Jan. 2017. http://www.trevornoah.com