Born a Crime Chapters 13-17

1.       In chapter thirteen, Trevor Noah falls on the wrong side of the law, but how does a messed-up view on race end up saving him from serious trouble?

In chapter thirteen, Trevor Noah gets caught stealing chocolate from a closed shop at a mall. He and his friend Teddy end up running away from the police, and Teddy gets caught. At school, Trevor is questioned about his involvement, but denies it. When the security camera tapes are reviewed, Trevor’s face is not visible, but his skin appears very light on camera. This leads the police and school administration to assume Teddy’s accomplice must be a white child. They do not view Trevor as white, so he gets away with stealing as a result of their racist assumptions.

2.      “People love to say, ‘Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime.’ What they don’t say is ‘And it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.’ That’s the part of the analogy that’s missing. Working with Andrew was the first time in my life I realized you need someone from the privileged world to come to you and say, ‘Okay, here’s what you need and here’s how it works’” (Noah 190). What happens in his life to teach him this? Do you agree with what he writes here? Why or why not?

Trevor is referring to his bootleg CD business that a white kid, named Andrew, helped him build. What Trevor means by “And it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod” is that members of marginalized groups are put at a disadvantage when working on their own. Without being given knowledge or resources that they do not normally have access to by a privileged person, members of marginalized groups do not have the same chances that white people do. I understand why Trevor Noah wrote this, especially in his situation, however, I hope it is not always true that a person of color NEEDS a white person to help them execute business plans. People of color are certainly at a huge disadvantage due to the grotesquely long history of racism and oppression all over the world, meaning that people of color have to work far harder to accomplish the same things as white people. However, these barriers do not stop many people of color from being successful, so what Trevor said is not true in every case, but it is still generally applicable. I hope that soon our society does not function this way, and the same amount of effort is required from any person to become successful.

3.      “The hood made me realize that crime succeeds because crime does the one thing the government doesn’t do: crime cares. Crime is grassroots” (Noah 209). What does he mean?

Trevor says this while talking about how interconnected everyone in his community was. He says that ‘criminals’ were his "friends and neighbors" and crime was a part of everyone's life.  Trevor says that "crime cares" because most criminals act out of necessity, because they care. ‘Criminals’ are just trying to take care of themselves and others; they offer opportunities for a better life. Crime sees the injustices occurring and decides to do something about it, but the government simply turns a blind eye.

The first quote I chose is from page 165, when Trevor Noah was talking about the way the government would find plots of land to deport black people to, so communities could remain segregated. On this page, Trevor Noah wrote, "That's what the government did. They would find some patch of arid, dusty, useless land, and dig row after row of holes—a thousand latrines to serve four thousand families.” The way Noah described the land really jumped out to me when I was reading. His description transported me and I think this quote is very representative of how black people have been treated historically and are still treated in many ways today.

The second quote I chose to dialogue with is from the same page as the quote used in question three on this blog post. When Trevor Noah wrote, “Crime offers internship programs and summer jobs and opportunities for advancement”(209), I couldn’t stop contemplating that quote. I still am not fully sure what internship programs he may have been speaking of, but it is a very creative and eye-opening way to view crime. Many crimes are committed by pursuing change in a broken system, or to save human lives, and support those who need it. It is very easy for white Americans to view crime as something that defines a person and condemns them, but we do not stop to consider how privileged this way of thinking is often enough.