Cultural Backgrounds
Xhosa and Swiss German
What is Trevor Noah's cultural heritage?
"Make sure your woman is THE woman in your life." "Being more of a man doesn't mean your woman has to be less than you." "Show me that I exist to you because the way you treat me is the way you will treat your woman."
What advice did Patricia give Trevor?
They put the pencil into your hair. If the pencil fell out, you were white. If it stayed in, you were black or colored.
What is the pencil test?
The colored neighborhood where Trevor and his mom move. This is where Trevor is pelted with mulberries.
What is Eden Park?
Initially, Robert refused to father Patricia's child, then he agreed with no contact afterwards, but then he couldn't ignore the existence of his own son once he knew he existed.
How did Robert, Trevor's dad, feel about Trevor/parenthood?
Xhosa
What is Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah's cultural heritage?
Trevor's friend who he believed was way out of his league but really had a crush on him.
Who is Zaheera?
Men were farm workers and women maids, but Patricia found a loophole by taking secretarial courses and landing a job as a secretary.
What were the only jobs allowed for black people during apartheid?
This is the place that was built to be bombed, but still has hope. Trevor had to hide inside the house, never allowed to play outside.
What is the township of Soweto?
A goat's head. Boiled and covered in chili powder.
What is a smiley?
Swiss-German
What is Robert's cultural heritage?
Trevor's date for the matric dance, from the Pedi tribe which is very small.
Who is Babiki?
What is a curfew?
This is the place where Trevor hustled. It contains shacks upon shacks upon shacks, and there's always a goat.
What is the township of Alexandra?
The biblical allusion Trevor uses to describe the way the many tribal languages that are used to keep the groups separated and at odds.
What is the Tower of Babel?
Tsonga, patriarchal tribe.
What is Abel's cultural heritage?
Trevor's girlfriend who was the only colored girl in school and broke Trevor's heart on Valentine's Day.
Who is Maylene?
4 years of prison time for females who broke the law; 5 for males.
What was the penalty for engaging in interracial relationships according to the Immorality Act of 1927?
This is the major city nearest to Soweto. Black people would work in this city but were not permitted to live there during apartheid.
What is Johannesburg?
If she wanted to teach her man a lesson, she threw boiling water at him. Oil meant she wanted to end it.
What was the only recourse a battered wife who is fed up with her abusive husband? (See: Sibongile and Dinky)
Zulu
Which tribe is known to be composed of proud warriors?
Missed opportunities
What is the only thing Trevor regrets?
The system of education that limited the curriculum to basic counting and sorting skills. No critical or higher-level thinking allowed.
What is the Bantu education system?
Trevor's dad moved here when Abel forbid Patricia and Trevor from seeing him. (One of South Africa's capitals.)
What is Cape Town?
He would wait for months or even years without striking out, and, when he did, it was absolutely brutal and unpredictable. Patricia moved out by degrees because she had no help from her family or the authorities.
Why was it so difficult for Patricia to leave Abel?