Kaffir Boy By Mark Mathabane Essay

What do we learn about life in the 18th century and how successfully does the writer convey this information whilst telling us a good story?

The Apartheid was initiated as a ploy for Europeans to better control the exploited populations for economic gain, as maintaining tension between the different racial classifications diverted attention from the Europeans as it fed hatred between groups. This assisted in minimizing unity between the exploited to rally against European control as it backhandedly induced “submission” for survival. One way of accomplishing this was by instilling laws that’d force segregation, classification, educational “requirements”, and economic purposes. The Population Registration Act of 1950 enacted, requiring segregation of Europeans from Afrikaans . Following shortly, the Group Areas Act of 1950 was enacted as a new form of legislation alongside the Population Registration Act. This detailed act separated tribes based on ethnics; consequently, further detailing segregation amongst the natives .

| Relevant Biographical Information About the Author: * White * Born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa in 1903 * Father was Scottish and mother was South African of English heritage * Worked at a reformatory with black youths

South Africa is a nation that was once faced with Apartheid, a system that belittles the average African to a point only slightly better than the slave status. In the novel Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane, Mark grows up struggling through that very system that was built to restrain him from success. Black South Africans are living as fourth class citizens and suffer at the hands of the white man. They are enslaved with the shackles of Apartheid and are regulated by the Boers. The only hope for escaping the damned nation is rationalizing with the very people who subjugate them, whites and coming to the means of equality. As the novel progresses, the author challenges white people’s perception of Apartheid’s framework and its negative effect on black people by advocating the nightmares of blacks in South Africa to the Smith family, ranting about how blacks are victims of oppression in the bar, and exposing the system that excelled at limiting the black man to

We commence by examining South-African apartheid and its historical and theoretical context. Apartheid was a system of racial segregation used in the overtly racist regime in South Africa from 1948 to 1991. It was based on laws that banned “marriage and sexual relations between different “population groups” and requir[ed] separate residential areas for people of mixed race (“Coloreds”), as well as for Africans” (Fredrickson 3). These laws were based on the same obsession with “race purity” that characterized other racist regimes, most notably Jim Crow America and Nazi Germany. The system was justified in terms of “cultural essentialism” and “seperate development”. Cultural essentialism means that each culture has inherent features that differentiate the members of this cultural group from others. The concept of separate development

Tobias Wolff’s parents divorced when he was around 5 years old and Wes Moore’s father die when he was age 3. At the same time, fathers of both these men were missing from their life at an early age. Wolff writes, “For the breakup of our family five years earlier and the misery of her long violent affair, she was going to make up for lost time, and I was going to help her.” By moving from Florida to Utah, Tobias states “We are going to change our luck.” (Wolff, 1989, This Boy’s Life, chapter 1) Likewise, without the presence of a father, the mothers faced raising the boys alone. Just as Moore writes, “I tried to copy his walk, his expressions, I was his main man. That is one of only two memories I have of my father.” (Moore, 2010, The Other

The book “Krik Krak” written by Edwidge Danticat contains a story of Danticat in the past and how could she became a famous author today. She was born Haiti and a survivor who escaped oversea to the United States. Danticat’s past is painful and horrible but it influenced her present. The Haitian politics repressed certain group of women and the fear surrounded them everyday. To find her own freedom and her rights, Danticat got on board then arrived at New York. The racist weighed on her but she didn’t give up on the path that she chose. She learned English and had a dream to become a writer but that also an issue for Danticat. The Haitian writer often killed but it didn’t quench Danticat’s desire to keep their history

In 1978 Mathabane was finally on his way to the United States of America and his hope that Apartheid was behind him. His only knowledge of America was from books and magazines he read and his association with both white and black people in South Africa that had lived in or visited America. Even though he was not familiar with life in America, when he arrived in South Carolina things did not seem to be quite right. He was under the impression that black people had equality, however he found there was a difference in the way the white and black people lived. White people were living in very nice suburbs while the black people were living in the ghettos, very similar to what he left behind in South Africa. He was in America alone and “could not distinguish different parts of the United States.” (Turkel 321) As he tried to settle in, he would hear about and read that” Freedom Fighters from the North” would “came down to the South to end the oppression” or at least try to.” (Turkel 321) As a result of this, it appeared that a move to the North might be better for him.

Most successful people have obstacles to overcome on their road to success. For Mark Mathabane, in his autobiography Kaffir Boy, he defies the South African apartheid system and becomes a collegiate athlete at a Division II school. In his journey to freedom, he leaves behind native customs and traditions, such as his religion, the rituals and his father; however, these still unwelcome recurrences haunt Mark time and time again throughout his maturation in Apartheid South Africa.

In the Novel “Cry the Beloved Country” by Alan Paton, two fathers are trying to put the pieces of there families back together while also keeping themselves together. They each go through a variety of struggles, with one learning his sister is a prostitute and his son is a murder while the other deals with his sons death and tries to move passed it. Throughout the novel, racial tension is a theme frequently seen from the beginning of the book til the very end. Paton uses the setting of South Africa to underscore racial tension associated with the apartheid movement to illustrate these themes. The concept of racism is prevalent during the story as it is used by the government to caused both blacks and whites to fear each other which eventually tears apart Kumalo’s family.

This section demonstrates how the fear manifested itself among the whites. The Afrikaners’ power is not in numbers, as “they were few” but instead in political authority. They exploit this and impose harsh laws on the black to try to control and restrict them. However, they have bound themselves in their fear of the natives, a force that is perhaps more confining than their rules. Instead of trying to understand their fear and show their compassion towards these other human beings, they instead choose to hide it so that they will not appear weak. Additionally, the solution of love that Paton suggests presents a conundrum. In order end the fear, they must love, but to love they must stop being afraid. This demonstrates the almost impossible nature of true equality occurring between the natives and the Afrikaners.

Many of the contemporary issues in South Africa can easily be associated with the apartheid laws which devastated the country. The people of South Africa struggle day by day to reverse “the most cruel, yet well-crafted,” horrific tactic “of social engineering.” The concept behind apartheid emerged in 1948 when the nationalist party took over government, and the all-white government enforced “racial segregation under a system of legislation” . The central issues stem from 50 years of apartheid include poverty, income inequality, land ownership rates and many other long term affects that still plague the brunt of the South African population while the small white minority still enjoy much of the wealth, most of the land and opportunities

In Mark Mathabane’s autobiography Kaffir Boy, he recalls his journey that begins in apartheid South Africa. Being under control of the whites, he witnesses violence, feels pain and suffers hunger with his family. However he overcomes the hardships and goes to college in America. Mathabane as a child is reluctant to go to school although his mother forces him to go but he earns rewards through education in school and tennis. His family is his aid that helps in his journey and sufferings in South Africa. He almost quits school when his friends in his neighborhood put a bad influence over him however his mother is there to support him. In the end of the journey, he earns a scholarship and is recognized for his sportsmanship in tennis and

"WARNING: THIS ROAD PASSES THROUGH PROCLAIMED BANTU LOCATIONS, ANY PERSON WHO ENTERS THE LOCATIONS WITHOUT A PERMIT RENDERS HIMSELF FOR PROSECUTION FOR CONTRAVENING THE BANTU (URBAN AREAS) CONSOLIDATION ACT 1945, AND THE LOCATION REGULATION ACT OF THE CITY OF JOHANNESBURG, The above message can be found written on larger-than-life signs staked on every road leading to Alexandra"(Mathabane, 3). The above quote is the first statement of the book just to give a taste of what is to come. Throughout Mark Mathabane's life he lived in what we in the United States would call poverty, but in Africa they call it the underclass. After starting to play tennis he became good enough to be able to move to the United States and escape his underclass

I have always thought that Nelson Mandela has been one of the most important people in history. I find it very fascinating that one man could end the Apartheid and that is why I want to find out more about this. South Africa is a country with a past of enforced racism and separation of its multi-racial community. The White Europeans invaded South Africa and started a political system known as 'Apartheid' (meaning 'apartness'). This system severely restricted the rights and lifestyle of the non-White inhabitants of the country forcing them to live separately from the White Europeans. I have chosen to investigate how the Apartheid affected people’s lives, and also how and why the Apartheid system rose and fell in South Africa.