an extremely offensive South African term for a black person, comparable to the N-word in the U.S.
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Kaffir Term Timeline in Kaffir Boy
The timeline below shows where the term Kaffir appears in Kaffir Boy. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 30
...off—Mrs. Smith’s son Clyde. Clyde doesn’t like that Mathabane is there and calls him a “Kaffir,” but Mrs. Smith scolds him. She remarks to Granny that she hates how white people...
(full context)
...it. When Mathabane can’t, Clyde calls him “retarded” and says that his teachers claim that “Kaffirs can’t read, speak, or write English like white people because they have smaller brains.” Mrs....
(full context)
