Kaffir Boy

Kaffir Boy,
A book written by Mark Mathabane, was introduced to me by my mother this past spring. This book is about a child who survived the cruel and harsh realities of living in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Mark and his family were very poor and couldn't buy much things. His house was pretty much empty. Mark had to sleep on cardboard boxes. Cops always raided the town and broke into people's houses and arrested the parents for no reason. Mark's father got arrested a few times for no reason and then one day he got arrested for six months.
Mark and his mom spent christmas without him.
Mark's mother kept having babies. She had seven kids including Mark.

Mark started going to school at seven years old. He was one of the best and smartest kids in his school. He got hit with canes from his principle because he didn't wear the right clothes and didn't have books. As mark got older he started doing more things.

He went into a white town for the first time to work with his grandmother. She worked as a gardener for the Smiths. His grandmother gave him his first introductory to english books. One being, "Treasure Island." The book made Mark dream about escaping the law of Apartheid.  In reality, he found it hard to carry the burden of hostility around daily. He said he knew the consequences of that much anger. It was self defeating. 

There were times in the book where Mark would mention a troubled group of people known as Tsotsi's. Tsotsi means: a black street thug.
There was an incident where Mark was walking home from school and this random guy, carrying groceries, was approached by a group of Tsotsi's. They gutted him in the middle of the street for no reason at all. Mark ran and hid, fearing for his own life. 
As the man was getting stabbed he begged the Tsotsi's to stop and pleaded for his life, letting the men know he had nine children. But the men continued and eventually the man bled to death.

This book is very interesting but also extremely sad because I've seen movies about things like this and heard stories, but to read a true story from the actual victim of these circumstances was traumatizing. It made me afraid to think that I exist in a world where things like this really happen.

From this book,  I've learned alot about racism, poverty, perseverance and beating the odds. It helped me to self reflect, to realize my own blessings and to see how small my problems are compared to others.

I recommend this book and give it a 5 Star rating!!!

Thanks for reading!!!


*Notes
Kaffir-Disparaging and Offensive. (in South Africa) a contemptuous term used to refer to a black person: originally used of the Xhosa people only.

Tsotsi- A Black street thug or gang member; wide boy

Apartheid- (in South Africa) a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race.

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