Born A Crime By Comedian Trevor Noah

Born a Crime is an autobiography written by comedian Trevor Noah about his experiences growing up in post-apartheid South Africa. Noah was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother in the 1980s even though mixed-race marriage was illegal under apartheid rules. When talking about the negative effects of these laws, Noah states that “In any society built on institutionalized racism, race mixing doesn't merely challenge the system as unjust, it reveals the system as unsustainable and incoherent. Race mixing proves that races can mix, and in a lot of cases want to mix. Because a mixed person embodies that rebuke to the logic of the system, race mixing becomes a crime worse than treason.” (Noah, Trevor). This is Trevor Noah’s perspective

The diamond mining business began in 1867, where blacks held the most dangerous jobs while also being paid less than white workers. South Africa declared independence from Great Britain in 1908, but that is when the problems began. The South African Act two years later took away political rights of black Africans in ¾ of the South African states. The 1913 Land Act marked the beginning of territorial segregation by forcing black Africans to live in reserves and making it illegal for them to work as sharecroppers. To combat this racism, there was the creation of the African National Congress (ANC) in 1912. But, in the 1920s, white Africans, took over the jobs of most black Africans, despite the ANC. The Representation of Voters Act in 1936 was an adaptation of the earlier South African Act, as this law weakens the political power of black Africans in some regions, as well as allowing them only to vote for white representatives. Finally, in 1948, the National Party won the general election using “apartheid”, meaning separateness, as their slogan. This was the beginning of apartheid South

The Population Registration Act of 1950 classified all South Africans by race. A person living here would have had to register as one of three races, black, white or colored. These categories were almost completely based on appearance, so to speak if one appeared black, laws decided they were black, no matter what their race entailed. “South Africa had a crazy system of deciding your race, including whether the moons of your fingernails were a bit more mauve than white, indicating a hint of black blood. There also was the test of whether a pencil would stay in your hair, indicating it must be of kinky black stock. If the pencil slid through, you could be considered white.” (Faul, Michelle). If one was "black" and wanted to go into a "white" area, one needed excessive papers, including their passbook called a dompas. A passbook stipulated someones travels and where they could work. This was the government's way of restricted movement and freedom. Another way the National Party did this was by segregating cities into grids. Blacks were often moved out of their homes, had land taken away, and were often relocated far away from their jobs. 80% of the land was set aside for the white minority. The National Party also had more extreme means of dividing people by race. The Immorality Act in 1950 banned sexual relationships between whites and blacks. Having a child under these