Identity and race

The autobiography Born a Crime by Trevor Noah also explores the theme of identity and race. Trevor’s own identity is an issue throughout the book since he is a mixed-race child and relationships between whites and people of color were prohibited and punished by law. When he is born, Trevor is already a paradox, as his existence is proof that, by law, he should not have been born. 

As a mixed-race child, Trevor is oblivious of the implications of race on identity and he naively sees race as a kind of chocolate: 

Dad was the white chocolate, mom was the dark chocolate, and I was the milk chocolate. But we were all just chocolate. I didn’t know any of it had anything to do with ‘race.’ I didn’t know what race was. (Chapter 4, pp. 59-60). 

Trevor’s family situation also makes it hard for him to find himself. His father is labeled white and cannot be seen with him in public, while his mother is labele...