Previous
Highlands North
Also known as Bantustans, homelands were isolated rural areas to which the apartheid government deported urban South African blacks en masse. People from each ethnic group were sent to the same homelands so that different groups would remain divided instead of uniting against the government. The lands inevitably grew crowded and depleted, leading their populations to fall into extreme poverty. In some cases, these homelands were even considered sovereign states—although only so that the apartheid government could more easily revoke blacks’ South African citizenship and fail to provide them any social support.
Homelands Quotes in Born a Crime
The Born a Crime quotes below are all either spoken by Homelands or refer to Homelands. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 5 Quotes
So many black families spend all of their time trying to fix the problems of the past. That is the curse of being black and poor, and it is a curse that follows you from generation to generation. My mother calls it “the black tax.” Because the generations who came before you have been pillaged, rather than being free to use your skills and education to move forward, you lose everything just trying to bring everyone behind you back up to zero. Working for the family in Soweto, my mom had no more freedom than she'd had in Transkei, so she ran away. She ran all the way down to the train station and jumped on a train and disappeared into the city, determined to sleep in public restrooms and rely on the kindness of prostitutes until she could make her own way in the world.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
As he recounts his mother’s path from Soweto to living in horrible poverty in the Xhosa homeland and back again, Trevor Noah points out how Patricia’s family actually held her back rather than propelling her forward because, from the moment she earned her own income, she was expected to help support all of them. As a result, she decided to run away from them and live on her own terms (although this does not mean she broke ties with them). This is central to her identity and system of values; she insists that Trevor be free to do whatever he Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptati
Get the entire Born a Crime LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Homelands Term Timeline in Born a Crime
The timeline below shows where the term Homelands appears in Born a Crime. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 5
...at the age of nine, but he sends her to live in Transkei, the Xhosa “homeland,” with his sister.
(full context)
...ends up living in a hut with 14 other unwanted children in the overcrowded, infertile “homeland.” She works the fields in the early morning and fights the other children—or sometimes the...
(full context)
Chapter 18
...Andrew, when Trevor is nine years old. They visit Abel’s family in the tropical Tsonga homeland, and Trevor finds out that “Tsonga culture […] is extremely patriarchal.” Men do little besides...
(full context)
