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Born a Crime Essay Topics & Writing Assignments

Essay Topic 1

At many different points throughout the collection "Born a Crime," Trevor Noah describes his family's fluctuating social and economic status. Write an essay analyzing the role that poverty and classism played in challenging and facilitating the author's understanding of himself as he grew up.

Essay Topic 2

At many different points throughout the collection "Born a Crime," Trevor Noah describes the complications of his racial identity. Write an essay analyzing the role that race played in challenging and facilitating the author's understanding of himself as he grew up.

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the collection "Born a Crime," Trevor Noah describes numerous male role models who influenced his life growing up. Write an essay analyzing the attitudes and beliefs of at least two men in the author's life and explain how the author depicts the influence they had on his identity.

Essay Topic 4

Spousal abuse is one the many...

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Born a Crime

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Racism, Apartheid, and the Cycle of Poverty

South African comedian Trevor Noah ’s memoir Born a Crime recounts his childhood as his nation transitioned from apartheid , a white supremacist system of government based on racial segregation, forced labor, and the disenfranchisement of nonwhites, to a tenuous democracy led by the black majority. Noah is mixed-race, with a white father ( Robert ) and a black Xhosa mother ( Patricia ), making his very existence a violation of the apartheid laws against…

Identity, Belonging, and Community

Noah ’s existence is not only outlawed by the apartheid system; the system also fails to neatly categorize him as black or white, and so his existence as a biracial man reveals the underlying flaws in the system’s conception of race. Nevertheless, he still has to cope with apartheid dividing the world—and people continuing after apartheid to divide themselves—based on race. He is frequently forced to choose a racial group even though that he knows…

Love and Personal Growth

Noah ’s memoir is in large part an ode to his mother, Patricia , whose fearlessness and sense of purpose he largely credits with his eventual success. Since they grow up together, just the two of them, Noah long considers himself and his mother a “team.” Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah—whose middle name is Xhosa for “she who gives back”—at once shows Noah that many rules are based on nonsense and that he must be careful about…

Resilience Through Religion, Education, and Humor

Throughout his difficult childhood, Noah and his mother, Patricia , cope with their uncertainty, relative poverty, and fear of the violence surrounding them by using three important tools to manage their relationship to the future: religion, education, and humor. Noah’s mother, in particular, views her future and fate as instruments of God’s will; she dedicates countless hours to prayer in order to gain the sense of control and certainty that she otherwise lacks in her…

• Racism and Its Effects on Our Society Words: 1403
• The Phenomenon of Racism Words: 560
• Crimes Against Persons Words: 1378
• Racism Against the Blacks in the UK Words: 2313
• Researching the Racism and Race Words: 592
• South African Perspectives in Born a Crime by Noah Words: 636
• Color-Blind Society and Racism Words: 1195
• Problem of Racism in the Modern World Words: 556
• Negro Kids: Racism in American Schools Words: 877
• Racism and Its Definition Challenge Words: 852
• Racism in the Contemporary America Words: 583
• Racism May Be Natural in Modern Society Words: 1496
• Racism Problem at Institutional and Interactional Levels Words: 1146
• Systemic Racism and Its Impact on Development Words: 2050
• Racism, Its Origins, and Evolution Words: 1164
• The Impact of Racism on Globalization Words: 4995

Racism: “Born a Crime” by Trevor Noah

Born a Crime is an autobiography written by comedian Trevor Noah, where he reflects on his childhood under the racist laws of apartheid. It is thrilling to follow his experience because it showcases the horrors and unfairness of racism. He talks about being a chameleon among African people as a child of a black woman and a white man. He belonged to no group and tried to find his place in the world as a mix-raced person. The book explores his identity, the places he did not feel different, and reviews his life in detail, which can teach a person to be more understanding, socially responsible, and tolerant.

Firstly, in his book, Noah talks about ‘being a chameleon’, which is an exciting part of the book. He is a person of color, which was considered illegal during apartheid. Yet he thought of himself as a black person because of his upbringing and the knowledge of several different African languages (Noah 40). As written in the book, he stayed the same color, but the perception of his color changed instantly when he changed the language he spoke. It was the benefit of knowing several African languages – he could respond to a robber in his native language, which instantly made Trevor a part of the robber’s culture, and that is why he was never robbed (Noah 42-43). However, the cost of that knowledge and the power to fit in almost with any group was the difficulty of finding his native identity. He did not know who he was, because he always had to choose sides ‘black or white, he did not realize his national identity because he belonged to Xhosa just as much as he belonged to the Swiss community.

As mentioned in the title of a book, Trevor was ‘born a crime’; he was living evidence of the ‘crime’ his parents committed under a racist regime. He was ‘too white’ to be considered black, and at the same time, he was ‘too black’ to be considered white (Noah, 44). However, there was one place where he felt like race did not matter and he was accepted. It was the Maryvale school, where children did not get teased because of the color of their skin, they were instead teased for general things like being too smart, too dumb, too skinny, or too fat (Noah 44-45). In that place, he felt as if he was accepted, which changed as he entered the new school H.A. Jack Primary, where he again became different. Black kids and one Indian kid recognized him, but he was still an anomaly, an exception, a crime (Noah 44-45). Although he felt like an outsider most of his life because of his skin color, he learned to live with those feelings and accept his identity.

Trevor Noah was a multilingual child with English as his first and primary language. In his book, he explained how under apartheid different languages resulted in greater oppression and division. For example, white people were discouraged from learning African languages because from early childhood, they were taught that those languages were beneath them (Noah 44). If one wanted to be employed somewhere of high prestige, one had to know English; otherwise, there was no chance to work in prestigious establishments. African languages and their language-bearers were also divided by different schools and believed that other words are enemy ones (Noah 43). When Trevor spoke to others in their native language, they viewed him as a person from their tribe’, as their own, and that is how he and his mother escaped various challenging situations throughout their life.

Language plays a rather important part in creating and sharing culture because the culture is often transferred through the tongue. A language has been created in a specific locality to preserve and pass down the culture of the people who are speaking it. One can observe the historical examples of how the national identity of some nations was ruined by destroying their native language first (as in the case of Romansh language, which people try to restore). A word can create unity because if one can understand the language another person speaks, primarily if this occurs in a foreign country, they feel like family or close friends. At the same time, if one language is demonized, using it in public can completely change the perception of another person.

As a bilingual person, I can share some advantages and disadvantages of knowing two languages. For example, when I speak to the other person, I can use the words from another language, as sometimes I can forget the most straightforward word in the needed language. It helps to understand a person from another country; it can be a great conversation starter that would interest many people. It would be easier for me to learn another language than for a person who can speak only one language. However, there are several disadvantages, for example, I can struggle to speak at an appropriate level in a professional setting. In addition, sometimes I can forget how to talk at all because, although I try to keep in mind and recycle both languages, I will always be better at one and worse at the other.

Speaking about the incidents I remembered the most in the book Born a Crime , it was an episode in the very beginning, where the mother was forced to throw her son out of the moving car to save his life. The man driving them was cursing the family for nothing and threatening to rape the mother and do worse to the children (Noah 16). That was when Patricia decided not to accept her fate calmly, but she made a choice, which saved her life and the lives of her children. After this situation, I started to look at that woman with admiration, because that episode not only showcased her inner strength, but she was wise enough not to make her children panic ahead of time. As the autobiography progressed, there were many similar stories, which showed her strength and will, but this one made the most significant impact on my mind.

There are many characters in Born a Crime; however, the one who exemplifies Francian Values the most is Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah Trevor’s mother. First of all, as Lourdes is a community of learning, Patricia teaches her son English, to read, to write, to understand the world around him. She showed him the truth and tried to make him know that the world is big and following one’s dreams is necessary (Noah 51). As Lourdes is a community of reverence, Patricia recognized and respected all human beings, their dignity, and their worth. As much as she was strong, she saw the better in prostitutes, gangsters, and robbers. Patricia’s heart accepted Jesus, and that is why she was incredibly respectful, even though she could talk back to anyone to protect her dignity. As Lourdes is a community of service, she challenged her son to help those in need. Even in her childhood, Patricia gave everything to the children who had less than her. She tried to help everybody, which is why I think she is the best example of Francian values’ human embodiment.

This book teaches that living in a diverse community is more comfortable than living in a society when one person is unique. For example, the reader can observe how Trevor was treated in an all-black neighborhood, where he was exceptional. Older people were afraid of giving him proper punishments; they believed his prayers were better-heard because he prayed in English; he was a miracle, an abnormality (Noah 40). However, when his environment became more diverse, people stopped thinking that he was not normal and accepted him. If more diversity were implemented globally, people would forget about racism as they would stop judging a person based on one’s race. After all, different races would not be considered an abnormality. It became a part of my way of thinking as it should because the distinction of races ultimately creates more racism and unfairness.

To conclude, Born a Crime teaches the reader about integrity, being kind, and being open to everyone despite his physical traits, such as race. It also teaches one to be ethical and not to divide people into white, black, and people of color. Lastly, it teaches one to be socially responsible, like the mother of the main character. Patricia gave everything she could to her son, including proper education and a sense of morality. She had a responsibility as a parent and gave everything she could to all three of her children, even if that meant that Patricia herself would suffer from abusive relationships. Her social responsibility paid off at the end of the story when her son helped her pay for her treatment. She was responsible for him, and he responded with his responsible behavior towards her.

Noah, Trevor. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood . Hachette UK, 2016.

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Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

Introduction.

Born a Crime, a memoir by Trevor Noah, is a moving account of how South Africans were oppressed and racially segregated during the apartheid period. His life demonstrated the difficulties he had as a biracial kid, such as prejudice and brutality, as well as the manner in which he endured his mother’s “thrilling love,” to which she wanted Noah to bow, among other things. Noah, on the other hand, would not submit to her overprotective attitude since he was much too naughty. Noah was raised mostly by his mother in a unique and challenging context about his identity and place in society. Because he was classified as a person of color and had to contend with the isolation that came with his situation, Noah often felt like an outsider. When Noah was growing up, he was immersed in an atmosphere that tested his sense of self-worth and place in the community (Noah,2016). The horrors of post-apartheid South Africa are nothing new to Trevor, but he has grown used to them as if they were everyday occurrences. To sympathize with a child who has to live with the weighty awareness that the world is unjust and full of awful happenings would be to sympathize with them.

Summary of The Memoir

In a perilous period in a broken world, a little boy tries to navigate a difficult environment with just his sense of humor and his mother’s love. This collection of dramatic, humorous, and profoundly emotional tales is the product of the author’s years of study and writing. It’s amazing how quickly an unruly child develops into a restless young man trying to find his place in the world. “Born A Crime” tells the tale. This book furthermore tells the story of the young man’s mother, a lady who was desperate to preserve her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that threatened to take her own life. his teammate, a mother desperate to rescue her kid from the poverty, violence, and abuse that threatened to take her own life.

As illustrated from the viewpoint of the main character, who begins the story as a vibrant young child and grows into a nervous gentleman while struggling to find his place in a world that was not meant for him, the story follows him as he fights to find his identity in an environment where he was not meant to be. Also depicted in the narrative is Noah’s mother, who is a strong, tenacious, and spiritual person. The tale reveals information about the connection between Noah and his mother. The mother was determined to shield her child from poverty, injustice, and cruelty, all of which she feared would eventually endanger her own life if she didn’t do anything about it. While the novel focuses on Noah’s childhood and adolescence, all of Noah’s recollections are a result of the repressive dictatorship that he grew up under.

According to Noah, government-enforced prejudice and discrimination were part of a purposeful endeavor to transform South Africa into a white country via white supremacy. In part because the system was so deeply ingrained in the lives of South Africans, its ramifications persisted long after the rule was brought to an end. It was not until the middle of Noah’s youth that the dictatorship came to an end, and this meant that he could finally attend school with people of all races and ethnicities. The groups at each school, on the other hand, remained isolated. Because of his skin tone, he found it difficult to blend in with any group. When compared to the first half of the novel, which is centered on Noah’s childhood and connection with his mother, the second half of the story is centered on Noah’s quest for self-discovery via his friends, relationships, and business efforts. All of these persons and their involvements are somehow connected to a certain location, which reveals even more about the repercussions of the dictatorship.

For example, Noah’s mother’s family has been compelled to reside in Soweto, a ghetto established by the government specifically for black people. In fact, when he visits his mother’s relatives, he finds himself to be the only “colored” person in an otherwise all-black neighborhood. However, when he travels to his father’s home, he finds himself in a mostly white neighborhood. Following high school graduation, Noah moved to Alexandra, a poor, all-black area that is rife with criminal activity.

Noah spent a significant amount of time in Alexandra. However, although Noah’s mother disobeyed government-imposed racial restrictions by residing wherever she pleased, Noah has always been the only “colored” person in any of the places where they have resided. No matter how many times he moves to a “colored” neighborhood, Noah still feels out of place among his friends, who see him as either being too white or too black, depending on the situation. Observations like these illustrate why Noah always feels as if he doesn’t belong anywhere, and it is this search for identity that ultimately inspires each and every tale in the book.

Trevor Noah’s story from a sociological perspective

It all started with an unlawful action: Trevor Noah’s delivery, which began his extraordinary trip from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show. The year 1984 saw the birth of his father, who was Swiss German, and mother, who was black, in the South African city of Johannesburg. When he was born, marriage between whites and blacks was illegal, and anybody caught in the act was sentenced to five years in jail. Because the relationship between Africans and Europeans was considered illegal, Trevor was required to remain inside at all times in order to protect him from the authorities, who might detain him at any time if they discovered him. It was determined that his father’s name would not be mentioned on his birth certificate since doing so would place them and his mother in danger.

When South Africa was eventually emancipated from the tyranny of white dominance, Trevor and his mother were finally allowed to live honestly and generously, and they were finally able to take advantage of the possibilities made available by the centuries-long battle for freedom and equality. Noah was raised by his mother on her own, in a religious environment, from the age of three. The severe code of behavior he was brought up with was enforced by his mother, who physically chastised him when he disobeyed. They would attend prayer sessions, which were regularly held at his grandparents’ house, and they would visit church on weeknights and many times on Sundays, as well as other activities (Coleman, 2018).

Trevor addresses the ramifications of dictatorship and opportunity. He acknowledges that society had created boundaries, but he asserts that he was at a disadvantage versus black people since he did not fit in, whether it was being noticed at school or finding the suitable group to join. The fact that he was colored also provided him with several chances. For example, he speaks about his childhood at his grandmother’s house in Soweto, where he was not subjected to any type of discipline despite the fact that he was the most infamous member of the community. This implied that a white youngster was not meant to be physically disciplined since the color of their skin would change or they would most likely die as a result of the punishment.

Because of this privilege, he was able to see why it was so difficult for white people to call for an end to the repressive government, as it was for most black people, given the system’s ability to provide them with so much comfort and freedom. One particularly memorable figure, “Hitler,” makes fun of the colonial educational system, which did little, if anything, to develop critical thinking skills. In 1939, Hitler grabbed Poland; in 1941, he overthrew the Soviet Union; and in 1943, he did something else. Remember that these are only facts, and that you should write them down on your test paper and then ignore them.” Noah (Noah, p.95) explains that. Every character in the novel exemplifies a subject from among the following: race, gender, family, relationships, perseverance, liberty, and religious conviction, all of which are stressed in different portions of the book.

Trevor’s mother, on the other hand, is a figure who takes center stage in the plot. She is characterized as an immensely spiritual, emancipated, and resilient lady who lives a free and independent life. For a long period, however, she has been subjected to domestic abuse, and Noah explains the irony that courageous females kept communities functioning despite the difficulties of apartheid. They were, however, obligated to “surrender to and revere” males in addition to this (Reivant, 2018). As he grows older, he finds himself more pulled between the realms of the black, the white, and the “hued,” as he ages. Noah’s narrative is an example of a young man who did not belong to any one ethnic group. On occasion, he tells how circumstances pushed him to make an educated choice regarding his identity: “at some time you ought to decide, black or hite.” You may make an effort to get away from it.

While you may claim that you do not take sides, life will eventually compel you to choose a decision.” His description of being presented with circumstances that compelled him to make an educated choice regarding his identification is included in the account. “At some time, you need to decide, black or hite,” he says. Perhaps you will make an attempt to escape away from the situation. You may say that you do not support a political party, but ultimately, life will force you to make a choice.” To him, teaching someone to fish is a waste of time, therefore he prefers teaching them how to go fishing and providing them with a fishing line. He goes on to explain, “If you spend too much time thinking about the problems your mother put you through or the challenges you have faced in life, you will cease exceeding the boundaries and breaching the norms.”

Born a Crime has the potential to be adapted into a graphic novel. It does, on the other hand, communicate to the reader the stories of poverty and racial injustice that have taken place in the past. Growing up in a mixed-race household, Trevor Noah describes how it was tough for him to fit in with any group, whether black or white, throughout his childhood. In the end, the novel instills a positive attitude on life that does not lay too much importance on the previous. No matter what kind of reader you are, Born a Crime is an engaging story that will leave you feeling happy, sad, and able to explore some of life’s most essential questions.

Coleman, B. Micro review: ‘Born a Crime’ touches upon several subjects with much sensitivity. E-Times, 2018.

Ninsiima, E. Book Review – Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. All Africa, 2017.

Noah, T. Born a crime: stories from a South African childhood. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2016

Reivant Olausson, T. (2018). Satire in Service of Postcolonialism: An Analysis of Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia and Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime: Stories of a South African Childhood.

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Born a Crime

By trevor noah, born a crime themes.

Race is a key theme in the memoir because South Africa is a place where someone's race determines many details of their life, and also because it is a constant source of tension and confusion for Trevor. He fully belongs neither in the Black nor the White communities, and he is constantly made to feel different from others because of his mixed racial heritage. Trevor's personal experience of racial ambiguity is juxtaposed against an exploration of how South Africa has made race an individual's defining characteristic. As Leon de Kock explains, "expressions of Self are often marked by a simultaneous setting apart from various Others. And yet it is precisely such attempted setting apart that marks the South African subject as fractured" (pg. 266).

There are 11 official languages in South Africa, and, along with race and culture, language is used as a major way for groups to classify who belongs and who is considered an outsider. Alongside being racially ambiguous, Trevor also speaks multiple languages, and this allows him to easily fit in with different groups who might otherwise not be accepting of him. Trevor's language skills allow him to broaden his horizons and move between different communities, giving him a degree of freedom and flexibility which not many South Africans possess.

Family is a key theme in the memoir, being mainly represented via Trevor's loving but complex relationship with his mother, Patricia. Other family members such as his grandparents, cousins, father, and younger brothers play secondary roles. Family is sometimes a source of pain and confusion for Trevor, as he does not initially understand why his mother is so strict with him. Additionally, when Trevor is a very young child, both of his parents have to hide their relationship with him. Nonetheless, the unconditional love and values he receives from his mother are a defining force in Trevor's identity.

The memoir follows Trevor as he progresses from a young child with very limited awareness of the world around him to a young man who can think critically and make decisions about the life he wants to live. Many of the incidents Trevor chooses to narrate are ones where he learns a key lesson and moves towards greater maturity and deeper self-understanding. For example, the incident at prom teaches him about being more respectful and attentive to women, rather than focusing solely on their looks, while the incident where he meets with his father after a long absence teaches him that relationships cannot be forced but rather have to grow organically between people. The memoir creates a structure for Trevor to turn seemingly random memories into a chain of events that helped him to mature and grow over time.

The memoir is constructed both to tell the story of Trevor's personal history and to offer a broader reflection on the history of South Africa. By juxtaposing personal and national histories, the memoir hints at how the two are interconnected. Trevor would not have been the same person if he had grown up in any other place: much of his identity and experience is directly tied to the way in which race was embedded in the history and politics of South Africa. The focus on ordinary and comical events in Trevor's life also serves to challenge and unsettle ideas of what history means. Most people would assume that a history of South Africa would focus on major political movements and profiles of famous leaders. However, Trevor's story implies that history also encompasses individual lives and experiences.

Trevor's life is marked by violence and the threat of violence. Whether it is being threatened by a mini-bus driver while riding with his mother as a child,or being afraid of being assaulted during the time he spends in jail, Trevor often has to cope with the reality that living in South Africa as a colored man means facing dangerous situations. He is also impacted by domestic violence when his stepfather becomes abusive towards both him and his mother. Culminating with his mother's shooting, Trevor's experience of violence forces him to confront assumptions he holds and also helps him to realize just how important his mother is to him.

Masculinity

Trevor grows up primarily raised by women, without a lot of male role models, but he nonetheless absorbs ideas of what he thinks masculinity should look like. As he gets older, he tries to enact different forms of masculinity by trying to make himself physically attractive, pursuing girls, trying to make money, and trying to become popular. He also observes other men and their values, such as when he notices the tension between his mother and stepfather due to Abel wanting a very traditional wife who respects his authority without question. Trevor's vision of what masculinity should look like is shaped by his close bond with his mother and a deepened understanding of how different people can embody masculinity in different ways.

Born a Crime Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Born a Crime is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What 3 things does trevor say they always had

Chapter please?

Explain Trevor's rationale for identifying Soweto driveways as a metaphor for Soweto's hope. What symbol do you indentify with hope? Explain why you chose this symbol

Trevor's rationale for identifying Soweto driveways as a metaphor for Soweto's hope is that the driveways represent tiny steps towards progress. He sees the driveways as symbols of transformation and possibility: even small changes can lead to big...

What rhetorical choice is used when Trevor Noah says that South Africa is a mix of old and new?

South Africa is a mix of the old and the new, the ancient and the modern, and South African Christianity is a perfect example of this. We adopted the religion of our colonizers, but most people held on to the old ancestral ways, too, just...

Study Guide for Born a Crime

Born a Crime study guide contains a biography of Trevor Noah, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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Essay Samples on Born a Crime

Unveiling the humanity: trevor noah's "born a crime".

Trevor Noah's memoir "Born a Crime" stands as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of storytelling. Through a deeply personal lens, Noah offers a compelling narrative that transcends the boundaries of race, culture, and geography. This essay delves into...

• Born a Crime

The Prejudice Faced by Trevor Noah in His Autobiography, Born a Crime

Trevor Noah was born in February of 1984, to a black mother and a white father of Swiss-German descent in South Africa. Trevor was born 10 years before the end of apartheid which Trevor liked to think of as ‘apart hate’ to describe the method...

Succeeding Despite Racism and Prejudice in Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah was truly an amazing piece of work which portrays how Trevor Noah was quite literally born a crime. This was because his mother, a black Xhosa woman, and his father, a Swiss man, decided to have a child together...

Born a Crime: The Significance of Family in Trevor Noah's Life

 In his book, Born A Crime, Trevor Noah describes encounters from his childhood in South Africa. Apartheid make hard for his situation on different pieces of his life because his parents are different races, so it causes a divide in the family and ultimately Trevor...

Born a Crime: A Humorous Tale of the Trevor Noah's Life

After reading Born A Crime by Trevor Noah, I finally understood why Bill Gates chose this book as one of his five favorite books in 2017. Trevor Noah’s birth, background, experience, ability, and his story are too exciting and interesting. He has more ups and...

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Best topics on Born a Crime

1. Unveiling the Humanity: Trevor Noah’s “Born a Crime”

2. The Prejudice Faced by Trevor Noah in His Autobiography, Born a Crime

3. Succeeding Despite Racism and Prejudice in Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

4. Born a Crime: The Significance of Family in Trevor Noah’s Life

5. Born a Crime: A Humorous Tale of the Trevor Noah’s Life

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Literacy Analysis of Trevor Noah’s “Born a Crime” Essay

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Trevor Noah’s mom instilled in him the traits of a self-assured and sensible adult. Every choice, movement, and encounter that he made was a lesson. Every child makes errors as they grow up, and at times they commit the same mistake several times before learning the lesson. In his book Born a Crime , South African comedian Trevor Noah recalls his boyhood during the country’s transformation from apartheid, a white supremacist system of governance founded on forced labour and racial segregation. The connection between Noah and his mother will be examined to see how the intricacies and constraints of that relationship shaped Noah’s character and his vision of the world.

Patricia, Trevor’s mom, was distinct from the rest of her family; she constantly felt as though she did not belong. She desired something to love, cherish, and provide pleasure in her life. In the same way that Trevor was a problematic kid, so was his mother. “My mom was the problem child, a tomboy, stubborn, defiant. My Gran had no idea how to raise her” (Noah 64). Attitude is passed along in the same way that genes are. His mother had a troubled childhood and always felt like an outsider. As for her parents, they did not have a lot either.

The government seized their home and bulldozed the whole area to build a fancy, new white suburb, triumph. Triumph along with tens of thousands of other black people, my grandparents were forcibly relocated to Soweto, to a neighborhood called the Meadowlands (Noah 63).

Since she grew up under limits imposed by her family and was compelled to labor as a youngster, she desired a different upbringing for Trevor. She wanted to reveal to him the prospects and demonstrate that it is possible to move from nothing to anything. Before giving birth to Trevor, she had nothing, and he was her whole world. She did not impose many restrictions on what he might do to have a happy and successful life. As a kind of rebellion against apartheid, Patricia opted to give birth to Trevor with a white and eventually raised him alone. She desired Trevor to be unrestricted in his movements, actions, and identities. Patricia provided him with the resources necessary to complete the task. She educated him on English as his first language and frequently read to him.

Trevor’s upbringing was unlike that of the other children he was surrounded by. He never felt like he belonged anywhere, and his mother was the only one with whom he had a decent connection but also struggled with discrepancies. Trevor was not permitted to interact with other children since he was of mixed race. The rules were different, and relationships between black and white individuals were prohibited. Trevor’s father was a white Swiss guy, and his mother was a black woman. His parents violated the law by deciding to have him. They perpetrated the crime of merging and producing a mixed-race by engaging in sexual relations in a location where they wished to maintain the superiority of whites over blacks. Being of mixed race was challenging for Trevor and affected his connection with his mom because, although he did not understand at the time why his mother would keep him indoors and try to hide him. All he wished to do was play with his relatives and other children, which prompted him to revolt and disobey his mother’s rules as a child. To keep himself busy, he would read novels that transported him to other lands and allowed him to escape his reality.

Since he was constantly alone, he went to the arcade whenever he could, such as when his mother sent him to fetch groceries, “he wouldn’t come home right home because I’d be using the change from the milk and bread to play arcade games at the supermarket” and while he was there for hours and hours “next thing I knew there’d be a behind me with a belt” (Noah 11). Thus, this is an illustration of how Patricia never confined her son to certain demands as a youngster who required greater attention to his everyday behaviors. Additionally, she allowed him to pursue his delinquency by not being there when he had to be corrected. When he was present, he would flee in order to avoid receiving his mother’s scolding and lesson.

Trevor’s mother regarded him as a child when he was little, but his grandmother, grandpa, cousins, neighbors, and even strangers recognized him as a special child. Because he was of mixed race and seemed white to them rather than black, his family treated him differently. Whenever he rode in the automobile with his grandpa, he had him ride in the backseat, served as his chauffeur, and addressed him as “Mastah” (Noah 52). “Whenever the children on the street spotted me, they would shout “Indoda yomlungu,” which means “The white guy is coming” (Noah 53). They were more kind to him since he was regarded as “white.”

Misconduct for which my cousins would have been penalized, I received a warning and was allowed to continue. And I was far more mischievous than my cousins. Not even close. It was my fault if anything was damaged or if someone stole grandmother’s cookies. My mother was the only person I really dreaded. She believed if you spare the rod, you spoil the child. But everyone else said, no, he is different, and they gave me a pass (Noah 52).

Trevor’s mother never spared him; however, she did not compel the rest of her household to treat him like she did, so he became used to his disobedience being overlooked. Particularly, Noah lived in uncertainty as a result of his biracial identity, in that his mother treated him one way while others treated him differently. Thus, this caused a lot of complications with Trevor and how he behaved in public, which was challenging for his mother since he was a stubborn child.

Trevor’s mother, Patricia, did not place a language restriction on him. Trevor’s mother ensured that he had an edge in a place where everything was restricted owing to his and his family’s ethnicity by ensuring he spoke many languages. She taught him various languages because it was advantageous for them and because they might be used as a weapon. English was essential to master since it was the most widely spoken. “English can give you a leg up. It is the language of money and equaled intelligence. English is the difference between getting the job or staying unemployed” (Noah 54). Trevor’s mother here depicts the importance of learning and comprehending the English language during the apartheid regime.

Trevor was fluent in English, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Zulu, Tswana, Sotho, and Tsonga. Thus, this positively impacted his life in numerous ways, such as when he was in a store with his mom, and a worker told the security officer to follow them. He thought they stole something, and his mother “turned around and asked in beautiful, fluent Afrikaans, “Why don’t you follow these blacks so you can help them find what they are looking for?” (Noah 55). The humorous aspect of the story is that Trevor got an apology for inflicting racism on them, but not for being stereotypical and for being a racist.

As he walked alone one day, three Zulu men walked closely behind him and conversed in Zulu. Hence, this was another instance in which he had difficulty because of the color of his skin. They did not anticipate Trevor understanding what they were saying, but he understood them well and comprehended that they intended to rob him. Instead of fleeing, he approached them and said, “Yo, guys, why don’t we mug someone together?” (Noah 55). Immediately he spoke their language; however, they thought he was “part of their tribe” and left him alone (Noah 55). Trevor was able to use language as a tool to alter the perceptions of others. Thus, this is not a constraint that his mother imposed on him, and she had a profoundly good influence on his daily life, which aided him.

Raised in a nation where seeking more and capable of doing more than working as a maid or in a temporary position were not options for people of color. Apartheid, the system of segregation between blacks and whites, was effectively established. Families from the past recounted the cycle of being in debt, poverty, and not advancing because they had become used to continuing living the same way and could not afford a new lifestyle. With the end of apartheid, private schools in South Africa began to accept children of color, and since his mother worked for a reputable firm, Trevor was allowed to enroll at Maryvale College. Trevor was privileged to be able to join this private school since it not only allowed children from many backgrounds to coexist as equals but also treated them as such. His enrollment in the school shaped his perspective of the world. He learned the truth about the justice system and how blacks were treated, especially the impoverished blacks.

White, black, and American Indian students shared the same clothes, textbooks, and teachers. Although his time in this realm was lovely, it veiled the reality from Trevor; he was oblivious to the actual world. Outside of school, whites, Indians, and blacks were perceived and treated differently according to the rules and culture of their own societies. As a result of Trevor’s transfer to H.A. Jack Primary School, the environment altered and became more like the actual world. They were “occupying the same space but choosing not to interact with each other in any way” (Noah 57). Trevor’s mom taught him that several individuals choose to associate with specific individuals but should never pass judgment on others.

Abel, Trevor’s violent alcoholic stepfather, Andrew’s biological father, and Patricia’s spouse, exemplifies the disparity in the treatment of men and women in the justice system. Abel always apologizes passionately after hitting Trevor and Patricia, persuading the family to accept him back. Conversely, he is well-liked by the community and tries his ways to assist others in need, leaving his family torn between his external and inside identities. Patricia sells their family home and leaves her profession to assist Abel in rehabilitating his garage company, but he squanders their earnings on alcohol. Patricia eventually retreats to a cabin in the backyard to escape Abel, but she is terrified to leave since she fears he will murder her.

Eventually, she meets another person and decides to leave; Abel then attempts to murder her by shooting her. She miraculously lives, while Abel brings himself in and serves no time in jail. Abel persuaded the court that he had to be free to sustain his children, despite being fully reliant on Patricia’s wages. Abel’s continual aggression and professional failure represent the pervasive challenges that afflicted black communities in South Africa following apartheid. Abel is enraged because he feels helpless and emasculated, unable to make a good income since he has never mastered operating a company. Moreover, he is preoccupied with controlling his wife to show his manhood in a society that limits him any sense of dignity.

Ideally, Trevor’s relationship with his mother was anything but normal, particularly because he was raised in a world where black and white were indistinguishable, and he was conceived with both white and black bloodlines. In the end, he was the common way between the two extremes. Due to the hostility he received from the world for being biracial, his mother set restrictions on him as a kind of love and protection. His mother’s strong love gave him the courage and fortitude he needed to withstand the fury of others and their negative impressions of him.

Following the 1976 Soweto Uprising, the South African government, led by P.W. Botha, instituted changes that it believed were reforms to restore order. These would lessen international critiques of apartheid, gratify white South Africans, establish interactions with other black African nations, and decrease internal black resistance within. Botha was also aware of a united black resistance movement (Little). As a first step, the National Party (NP) government utilised a divide and rule strategy, dividing the citizens into ethnic groups and uniquely portraying each group. Many saw these reforms as merely cosmetic because, while they changed the appearance of apartheid externally, the system did not change. The predicament for the average person on the street got worse due to these changes (Little). During this period, apartheid’s most violent years were also experienced, as the government attempted to hold on to power while repressing the resistance of black people through any means possible.

Around this era, the anti-apartheid movement grew more cohesive and active, which contributed to the outbreak of violence and the movement’s success in bringing about change in South Africa. During a national referendum held in March 1992 for “whites only,” white South Africans chose to make the change from an exceedingly restricted type of democracy to a complete version of democracy (Klaus). Sixty-nine percent of white voters supported Prime Minister Fredrick de Klerk of the national party, leading discussions on a new constitution that would provide blacks political rights (Klaus). The essence of this accord was the abolition of the racial-state system. The breakdown of the racial state was followed by the collapse of a democratic system that was confined in its scope and effectiveness. Only after the 1994 election, when citizenship was granted to black South Africans, did apartheid finally come to an end.

My first impression of Trevor Noah’s memoir Born a Crime is that it is a narrative filled with humor and amusing episodes that call attention to the political history of South Africa. My lasting impression is that the majority of this book does not adhere to what would be termed traditional structure: beginning-middle-end, following a course of action that, in normal tales, would build to a climax. There is a broad sense of chronology, with events being detailed in approximately the sequence in which they took place: the narrative proceeds from the writer’s childhood encounters, through his adolescent experiences, and into his early adulthood experiences. The narrative is anecdotal or episodic, consisting mostly of memoir-like storylines of single experiences that are given some context and include narrative and thematic repetitions of other such situations. The closest thing to a through-line is the author’s examination of his family’s connection.

Works Cited

‌Klaus, Kästle. “History of South Africa – the Republic of South Africa: 1961–Present – Key Figures in South Africa’s History.” Nationsonline.org , 2021.

Little, Becky. “Key Steps That Led to End of Apartheid.” HISTORY , 2020.

Noah, Trevor. Born a Crime : Stories from a South African childhood. 2nd ed., New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2016. Print.

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IvyPanda. (2023, May 13). Literacy Analysis of Trevor Noah’s “Born a Crime”. https://ivypanda.com/essays/literacy-analysis-of-trevor-noahs-born-a-crime/

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IvyPanda . 2023. "Literacy Analysis of Trevor Noah’s “Born a Crime”." May 13, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/literacy-analysis-of-trevor-noahs-born-a-crime/.

1. IvyPanda . "Literacy Analysis of Trevor Noah’s “Born a Crime”." May 13, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/literacy-analysis-of-trevor-noahs-born-a-crime/.

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• Revisiting the work of Donald Harris, father of Kamala

A combative Marxist economist with White House influence

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I n a video clip that has gone viral recently, Kamala Harris quotes her mother asking her whether she thought she had just fallen out of a coconut tree. The probable Democratic nominee for president breaks into a laugh at the turn of phrase before explaining, somewhat philosophically, the message of the story: “you exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.” For Ms Harris some of that context is esoteric economic theory. Her father, Donald, is an 85-year-old, Jamaican-born economist, formerly a professor at Stanford University.

As part of a tradition of heterodox economists, Mr Harris is tenacious and prosecutorial, with a terrier-like grip on the blind spots and misguided assumptions of the mainstream (as well as the foibles of his daughter, whom he publicly admonished for stereotyping Jamaicans when she admitted to smoking marijuana). He is a clear writer. There are few compound nouns or sentences that run for paragraphs. Yet he is still a Marxist and his writings are sprinkled with obscurantist theorising. Republicans who have mocked Ms Harris for word-salad speeches will find precedent in her father’s writing.

Mr Harris’s work shares some of the economic concerns of the Biden administration, in which Ms Harris is vice-president. His book, “Capital Accumulation and Income Distribution”, published in 1978 and dedicated to Kamala and her sister, examines the pitfalls of relying on profit-seeking capitalists to direct an economy. The focus is on the connection between inequality and growth. Seeking to not only understand why some countries are rich and others poor but also why parts of all economies are backward, a pattern he calls “uneven development”, Mr Harris rejected the work of Robert Solow, the father of mainstream growth theory, and aligned himself with post-Keynesians such as Joan Robinson and Piero Sraffa.

The two camps sparred often. In the 1950s Robinson’s critique of Solow’s growth model led to what became known as “the Cambridge Capital Controversy”, owing to the fact it took place between neo-Keynesian economists in Cambridge, Massachusetts, such as Solow, and post-Keynesians in Cambridge, England. The latter alleged that their American peers improperly conceptualised capital. Aggregating the capital stock, the diverse mix of equipment an economy relies on, in terms of money involved circular logic: the return on capital was required to calculate its volume, which was then required to calculate its return. The American economists conceded the point but kept using their models. “If God had meant there to be more than two factors of production, he would have made it easier for us to draw three-dimensional diagrams,” Solow quipped.

Mr Harris did not move on. In his 1978 book he developed a model of growth without an aggregate capital stock. Rather than the smooth “production function” of Solow, in which the rate of saving and population growth determines capital per worker, Mr Harris instead proposed that firms must choose from a “book of blueprints”, which need different capital goods. Capitalists will compete to ensure the rate of profit is consistent across different industries, picking a blueprint based on the level of wages and profits in the economy. Unlike in Solow’s model, each part of the economy does not use the maximum amount of capital per worker. There is no “steady state” path of growth, but multiple equilibria dependent on the level of wages and profits. Later he would suggest that constantly evolving technology inevitably leads to persistent unemployment.

In his diagnosis of capitalism as inherently insecure and, if left to its own devices, insufficient to improve living standards, there is an echo of themes in both American party’s platforms; namely, the public investment and industrial policy in Bidenomics, which is intended to juice growth for the “middle class”, and the more interventionist aspects of Donald Trump’s economic nationalism. Americans across the political spectrum now seem to agree that the unfettered free market is not the route to widespread prosperity.

Trying completely to reconcile Mr Harris’s work with the mainstream would bowdlerise it, though, as it is more unashamedly Marxist than anything in modern American politics. He is concerned with exploitation, the value form and the diminishing rate of profit. In one paper he dismissed the idea of America’s black population as analogous to those living under colonial rule, arguing that the problem was capitalism rather than dominance by a foreign power. There is no reason why black workers would be better off under black capitalists than white ones, he wrote.

Today few politicians are keen to cite Robinson or Sraffa as intellectual influences. Mr Harris, for his part, retired from academia in 1998 to focus on policy work, including advising the Jamaican government. For all his earlier radicalism, he has recommended fiscal discipline and crime reduction, as well as export-led growth and industrial strategy. In the end, however, perhaps his greatest economic legacy will be his daughter. ■

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This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “The other Donald”

Finance & economics July 27th 2024

The rich world revolts against sky-high immigration, donald trump wants a weaker dollar. what are his options, how vladimir putin created a housing bubble, why is xi jinping building secret commodity stockpiles, why investors are unwise to bet on elections.

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What the data says about immigrants in the U.S.

The United States has long had more immigrants than any other country. In fact, the U.S. is home to one-fifth of the world’s international migrants . These immigrants have come from just about every country in the world.

Pew Research Center regularly publishes research on U.S. immigrants . Based on this research, here are answers to some key questions about the U.S. immigrant population.

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to answer common questions about immigration to the United States and the U.S. immigrant population.

The data in this analysis comes mainly from Center tabulations of Census Bureau microdata from decennial censuses and American Community Survey (IPUMS USA). This analysis also features estimates of the U.S. unauthorized immigrant population . The estimates presented in this research for 2022 are the Center’s latest.

How many people in the U.S. are immigrants?

The U.S. foreign-born population reached a record 46.1 million in 2022. Growth accelerated after Congress made U.S. immigration laws more permissive in 1965. In 1970, the number of immigrants living in the U.S. was less than a quarter of what it is today.

Immigrants today account for 13.8% of the U.S. population. This is a roughly threefold increase from 4.7% in 1970. However, the immigrant share of the population today remains below the record 14.8% in 1890 .

Where are U.S. immigrants from?

Mexico is the top country of birth for U.S. immigrants. In 2022, roughly 10.6 million immigrants living in the U.S. were born there, making up 23% of all U.S. immigrants. The next largest origin groups were those from India (6%), China (5%), the Philippines (4%) and El Salvador (3%).

By region of birth, immigrants from Asia accounted for 28% of all immigrants. Other regions make up smaller shares:

• Latin America (27%), excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean (10%), Central America (9%) and South America (9%)
• Europe, Canada and other North America (12%)
• Sub-Saharan Africa (5%)
• Middle East and North Africa (4%)

How have immigrants’ origin countries changed in recent decades?

Before 1965, U.S. immigration law favored immigrants from Northern and Western Europe and mostly barred immigration from Asia. The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act opened up immigration from Asia and Latin America. The Immigration Act of 1990 further increased legal immigration and allowed immigrants from more countries to enter the U.S. legally.

Since 1965, about 72 million immigrants have come to the United States from different and more countries than their predecessors:

• From 1840 to 1889, about 90% of U.S. immigrants came from Europe, including about 70% from Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
• Almost 90% of the immigrants who arrived from 1890 to 1919 came from Europe. Nearly 60% came from Italy, Austria-Hungary and Russia-Poland.
• Since 1965, about half of U.S. immigrants have come from Latin America, with about a quarter from Mexico alone. About another quarter have come from Asia. Large numbers have come from China, India, the Philippines, Central America and the Caribbean.

The newest wave of immigrants has dramatically changed states’ immigrant populations . In 1980, German immigrants were the largest group in 19 states, Canadian immigrants were the largest in 11 states and Mexicans were the largest in 10 states. By 2000, Mexicans were the largest group in 31 states.

Today, Mexico remains the largest origin country for U.S. immigrants. However, immigration from Mexico has slowed since 2007 and the Mexican-born population in the U.S. has dropped. The Mexican share of the U.S. immigrant population dropped from 29% in 2010 to 23% in 2022.

Where are recent immigrants coming from?

In 2022, Mexico was the top country of birth for immigrants who arrived in the last year, with about 150,000 people. India (about 145,000) and China (about 90,000) were the next largest sources of immigrants. Venezuela, Cuba, Brazil and Canada each had about 50,000 to 60,000 new immigrant arrivals.

The main sources of immigrants have shifted twice in the 21st century. The first was caused by the Great Recession (2007-2009). Until 2007, more Hispanics than Asians arrived in the U.S. each year. From 2009 to 2018, the opposite was true.

Since 2019, immigration from Latin America – much of it unauthorized – has reversed the pattern again. More Hispanics than Asians have come each year.

What is the legal status of immigrants in the U.S.?

Most immigrants (77%) are in the country legally. As of 2022:

• 49% were naturalized U.S. citizens.
• 24% were lawful permanent residents.
• 4% were legal temporary residents.
• 23% were unauthorized immigrants .

From 1990 to 2007, the unauthorized immigrant population more than tripled in size, from 3.5 million to a record high of 12.2 million. From there, the number slowly declined to about 10.2 million in 2019.

In 2022, the number of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. showed sustained growth for the first time since 2007, to 11.o million.

As of 2022, about 4 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. are Mexican. This is the largest number of any origin country, representing more than one-third of all unauthorized immigrants. However, the Mexican unauthorized immigrant population is down from a peak of almost 7 million in 2007, when Mexicans accounted for 57% of all unauthorized immigrants.

The drop in the number of unauthorized immigrants from Mexico has been partly offset by growth from other parts of the world, especially Asia and other parts of Latin America.

The 2022 estimates of the unauthorized immigrant population are our latest comprehensive estimates. Other partial data sources suggest continued growth in 2023 and 2024 .

Who are unauthorized immigrants?

Virtually all unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. entered the country without legal permission or arrived on a nonpermanent visa and stayed after it expired.

A growing number of unauthorized immigrants have permission to live and work in the U.S. and are temporarily protected from deportation. In 2022, about 3 million unauthorized immigrants had these temporary legal protections. These immigrants fall into several groups:

• Temporary Protected Status (TPS): About 650,000 immigrants have TPS as of July 2022. TPS is offered to individuals who cannot safely return to their home country because of civil unrest, violence, natural disaster or other extraordinary and temporary conditions.
• Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA): Almost 600,000 immigrants are beneficiaries of DACA. This program allows individuals brought to the U.S. as children before 2007 to remain in the U.S.
• Asylum applicants: About 1.6 million immigrants have pending applications for asylum in the U.S. as of mid-2022 because of dangers faced in their home country. These immigrants can stay in the U.S. legally while they wait for a decision on their case.
• Other protections: Several hundred thousand individuals have applied for special visas to become lawful immigrants. These types of visas are offered to victims of trafficking and certain other criminal activities.

In addition, about 500,000 immigrants arrived in the U.S. by the end of 2023 under programs created for Ukrainians (U4U or Uniting for Ukraine ) and people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela ( CHNV parole ). These immigrants mainly arrived too late to be counted in the 2022 estimates but may be included in future estimates.

Do all lawful immigrants choose to become U.S. citizens?

Immigrants who are lawful permanent residents can apply to become U.S. citizens if they meet certain requirements. In fiscal year 2022, almost 1 million lawful immigrants became U.S. citizens through naturalization . This is only slightly below record highs in 1996 and 2008.

Most immigrants eligible for naturalization apply for citizenship, but not all do. Top reasons for not applying include language and personal barriers, lack of interest and not being able to afford it, according to a 2015 Pew Research Center survey .

Where do most U.S. immigrants live?

In 2022, most of the nation’s 46.1 million immigrants lived in four states: California (10.4 million or 23% of the national total), Texas (5.2 million or 11%), Florida (4.8 million or 10%) and New York (4.5 million or 10%).

Most immigrants lived in the South (35%) and West (33%). Another 21% lived in the Northeast and 11% were in the Midwest.

In 2022, more than 29 million immigrants – 63% of the nation’s foreign-born population – lived in just 20 major metropolitan areas. The largest populations were in the New York, Los Angeles and Miami metro areas. Most of the nation’s unauthorized immigrant population (60%) lived in these metro areas as well.

How many immigrants are working in the U.S.?

In 2022, over 30 million immigrants were in the U.S. workforce. Lawful immigrants made up the majority of the immigrant workforce, at 22.2 million. An additional 8.3 million immigrant workers are unauthorized. This is a notable increase over 2019 but about the same as in 2007 .

The share of workers who are immigrants increased slightly from 17% in 2007 to 18% in 2022. By contrast, the share of immigrant workers who are unauthorized declined from a peak of 5.4% in 2007 to 4.8% in 2022. Immigrants and their children are projected to add about 18 million people of working age between 2015 and 2035. This would offset an expected decline in the working-age population from retiring Baby Boomers.

How educated are immigrants compared with the U.S. population overall?

On average, U.S. immigrants have lower levels of education than the U.S.-born population. In 2022, immigrants ages 25 and older were about three times as likely as the U.S. born to have not completed high school (25% vs. 7%). However, immigrants were as likely as the U.S. born to have a bachelor’s degree or more (35% vs. 36%).

Immigrant educational attainment varies by origin. About half of immigrants from Mexico (51%) had not completed high school, and the same was true for 46% of those from Central America and 21% from the Caribbean. Immigrants from these three regions were also less likely than the U.S. born to have a bachelor’s degree or more.

On the other hand, immigrants from all other regions were about as likely as or more likely than the U.S. born to have at least a bachelor’s degree. Immigrants from South Asia (72%) were the most likely to have a bachelor’s degree or more.

How well do immigrants speak English?

About half of immigrants ages 5 and older (54%) are proficient English speakers – they either speak English very well (37%) or speak only English at home (17%).

Immigrants from Canada (97%), Oceania (82%), sub-Saharan Africa (76%), Europe (75%) and South Asia (73%) have the highest rates of English proficiency.

Immigrants from Mexico (36%) and Central America (35%) have the lowest proficiency rates.

Immigrants who have lived in the U.S. longer are somewhat more likely to be English proficient. Some 45% of immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for five years or less are proficient, compared with 56% of immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for 20 years or more.

Spanish is the most commonly spoken language among U.S. immigrants. About four-in-ten immigrants (41%) speak Spanish at home. Besides Spanish, the top languages immigrants speak at home are English only (17%), Chinese (6%), Filipino/Tagalog (4%), French or Haitian Creole (3%), and Vietnamese (2%).

Note: This is an update of a post originally published May 3, 2017.

• Immigrant Populations
• Immigration & Migration
• Unauthorized Immigration

Mohamad Moslimani is a research analyst focusing on race and ethnicity at Pew Research Center .

Jeffrey S. Passel is a senior demographer at Pew Research Center .

What we know about unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S.

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Born a Crime

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In May 2022, roughly six years after the publication of Born a Crime , Trevor Noah’s beloved grandmother, Frances (also known as “Gogo/Koko”), passed away at the age of 95 . Frances is an especially prominent figure in Chapters 1-5 of the book, as Noah recalls his experiences growing up in Soweto. In his tribute to Frances, Noah said: "Her house in Soweto wasn't just a home, it was a refuge. . . a place where other women would come when they had no other place to go, a place where members of the community would gather to pray together every single week, a place where everyone was guaranteed to feel the love emanating from her mighty chest."

What does Noah mean when he calls Frances’s home a “refuge,” knowing what you know from his stories about his grandmother from early chapters in the book?

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Lewis Lapham, editor who revived Harper’s magazine, dies at 89

Lewis H. Lapham, the innovative editor who revived Harper’s magazine and penned books and essays that skewered the American upper class from which he sprang, died Tuesday in Rome. He was 89.

His family confirmed the death but did not cite a specific cause.

Born into a family with a long history in statecraft and industry — relatives included the secretary of war for Thomas Jefferson and a founder of what became the oil giant Texaco — Mr. Lapham retained the aura of extreme privilege. On his tall, trim frame, he wore bespoke suits, accessorized with pocket squares and cuff links. He could often be found, drink in hand and chain-smoking Parliament cigarettes, at A-list galas and restaurants in New York.

At the same time, he positioned himself as an often-scornful observer of his own aristocratic heritage, leading to quips that he was “the Brahmin who got away.”

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He aspired to be a historian and was studying the subject at the University of Cambridge when, in 1956, the Suez crisis broke out as well as the anti-Soviet uprising in Hungary, and he found himself drawn to the thrill and immediacy of documenting history as it unfolded.

“I couldn’t imagine anything more exciting to do than to try to put words on paper,” he told the the University of California Television, describing journalism as a form of public service and a “heroic” forum for ideas.

But by the time Mr. Lapham joined Harper’s as a contract writer in 1971, after assignments for Life magazine and the Saturday Evening Post, the venerable monthly founded in 1850 was losing readers and advertisers.

In a dispute with the owner over editorial direction and budgetary conflicts, the entire staff except for the art director followed the beloved top editor Willie Morris out the door, a mutiny that Mr. Lapham likened to “one of those Shakespeare plays where all the important people kill themselves.”

Although he had only been to the Harper’s office twice, Mr. Lapham was suddenly promoted to managing editor by the magazine’s owner, the Minneapolis Star and Tribune Co., which had taken issue with Morris’s free-spending ways and such articles as Norman Mailer’s 90,000-word report on a Vietnam War protest march.

Mr. Lapham turned the once reliably liberal Harper’s into what he called a “theater of ideas.” He published essays by leftists but also reached out to conservatives such as Irving Kristol, Norman Podhoretz, and Ken Adelman. He ran articles questioning affirmative action and once put William F. Buckley Jr., the right-wing editor of the National Review, on the cover.

“What drew Lapham to these writers was his taste for heresy — he’s always loved starting fights on the playground and then bringing them back into the classroom,” media critic Jack Shafer wrote decades later in Slate. “Publishing contrary pieces gave Harper’s an ecumenical edge.”

Mr. Lapham, who became Harper’s top editor in 1976, also encouraged writers to provide their personal takes on US politics, world affairs, science, and the arts. He published some of Tom Wolfe’s most incendiary work, including “The Painted Word,” his 1975 attack on modern art, and was an early promoter of Annie Dillard’s meditative essays on nature.

“He pushed the idea that the memoir form might influence any piece — an essay, report, investigation — and make it more, rather than less, true,” Robert S. Boynton, head of the literary journalism program at New York University, told Smithsonian magazine. “He attacked the false gods of ‘objective journalism’ and showed how much more artful and accurate writing in the first person could be.”

There were also blunders. Because he objected to the book’s many unnamed sources, Mr. Lapham refused to excerpt “All the President’s Men,” the soon-to-be bestseller by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward about the Watergate break-in that led to President Nixon’s resignation.

What’s more, Harper’s continued to bleed cash. It was on the verge of closing in 1980 when it was bought by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the oil company Atlantic Richfield. The new owners set up a nonprofit foundation to underwrite the magazine.

The next year, the board reportedly pushed Mr. Lapham to resign in part because some found the magazine’s contents lacked liveliness and were too often harshly critical of American society. When his successor, Michael Kinsley, also left amid clashes with the board, Mr. Lapham was lured back in 1983 with a carte blanche mandate to redesign Harper’s.

“The board brought him back because the magazine started going downhill after he left, and they didn’t want to ruin the Harper’s brand,” said Samir Husni, a magazine industry analyst. Mr. Lapham, he added, “gave the magazine its identity.”

In his second stint as editor, Mr. Lapham tried to distinguish Harper’s from competitors, including the New Yorker and the Atlantic, by cutting back on windy articles and by inventing several short, eye-catching features.

The “Annotation” section deciphered random documents and images — a census form, a White House press release, a Carnegie Hall concert ticket — through critical comment and explanatory diagrams. “Harper’s Index” came about after Mr. Lapham noted that news stories were often built around numbers. He stripped away the words to produce a single page of numbers and unusual facts often juxtaposed to startle or amuse readers.

One Index entry dryly stated: “Pounds of plutonium and highly enriched uranium that are missing from US inventories: 9,600 pounds. Pounds of plutonium needed to make an atomic bomb: 15.” Another put the number of “telephone-related injuries” in 1985 at 11,000. The Index was widely imitated and turned into a series of books.

Mr. Lapham filled out Harper’s with poetry, fiction, and in-depth reports, often by emerging voices such as David Foster Wallace, Christopher Hitchens, and Fareed Zakaria. Barbara Ehrenreich recalled how a long lunch with Mr. Lapham led her to write two Harper’s essays on the struggles of America’s working class, and that formed the basis for her best-selling 2001 book “Nickel and Dimed.”

Mr. Lapham led off each edition of Harper’s with one of his own essays, written longhand with a Waterman pen, often about the abuse of privilege and power and the dangers facing America’s democracy.

Although the magazine continued to lose money, circulation nearly doubled to 220,000. Under his watch, Harper’s won the National Magazine Award, the industry’s highest honor, many times, including in 1995 for Mr. Lapham’s essays, which were praised for their “exhilarating point of view in an age of conformity.”

Lewis Henry Lapham was born in San Francisco on Jan. 8, 1935. His father was in shipping and banking, and his paternal grandfather was mayor of San Francisco in the 1940s. As a boy, he sometimes rode with him in official limousines to ribbon-cutting ceremonies.

“I came to imagine,” he later observed, “that I was born to ride in triumph and that others, apparently less fortunate and more numerous, were born to stand smiling in the streets and wave their hats.”

He graduated from Yale University in 1956 with an English degree. He then studied history at Cambridge but dropped out after six months. As he explained to the Kansas City Star, “I didn’t have the patience for footnotes, and I didn’t want to have to learn medieval German.”

Instead, he took a job in 1957 as a cub reporter for his hometown San Francisco Examiner, where his tasks included procuring bourbon for the better-known writers. Sent to cover a flower show, Mr. Lapham watched in horror as an editor cut his 4,000-word treatise down to a single paragraph.

Mr. Lapham turned to magazine writing because he found traditional newspaper coverage too confining for his worldly tastes.

Survivors include his wife of more than 50 years, the former Joan Reeves, of Rome; three children, Andrew Lapham of Toronto, Delphina Boncompagni Ludovisi of Rome, and Winston Lapham of Denver; and 10 grandchildren.

At age 72, in 2007, and with the financial support of wealthy friends Mr. Lapham launched Lapham’s Quarterly, an erudite print counterpoint to what he considered the hyperactive pace and frivolous emphasis of internet culture.

Each issue examined one topic, such as love, war, politics or the family, through curated excerpts of the writings of great thinkers of the past. His goal was to infuse the wisdom of the likes of Aristotle, Thomas Paine, Simón Bolívar and Vaclav Havel into contemporary debates and to provide a springboard for discovery. (The magazine announced in late 2023 that, because of financial challenges, the print publication would be “on a temporary hiatus.”)

“Somebody comes across it and … goes from a smaller excerpt in the Quarterly to the whole work by Diderot,” Mr. Lapham told Smithsonian in 2012, referring to the French philosopher and encyclopedist. “The hope of social or political change stems from language that induces a change of heart. That’s the power of words, and that’s a different power than the power of the internet.”

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From Honor Student to the Gunman Who Tried to Kill Donald Trump

Thomas Crooks was a brainy and quiet young man who built computers and won honors at school, impressing his teachers. Then he became a would-be assassin.

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By Emily Cochrane Steve Eder William K. Rashbaum Amy Julia Harris Jack Healy and Glenn Thrush

The reporters conducted about 60 interviews with classmates, teachers, neighbors and officials in Bethel Park, Pa., and reviewed law enforcement bulletins and extensive school records for this article.

For Thomas Crooks, the suburban Pittsburgh nursing home where he served meals and washed dishes for $16 an hour was another solitary corner of a nearly invisible life. He was polite but distant, a former co-worker said, ate lunch alone in the break room and rarely spoke with anyone.

But as western Pennsylvania geared up last week for the boisterous spectacle of hosting a rally for former President Donald J. Trump, Mr. Crooks approached his bosses with a request, law enforcement officials said: He wanted to take Saturday off.

He told them he had something important to do.

It was one of the few hints to emerge so far that the 20-year-old engineering sciences graduate was planning to become a political assassin. A week after Mr. Crooks opened fire at the rally and was killed by the Secret Service, his ideology and motives remain a vexing question for investigators and the people who crossed paths with him.

In dozens of interviews, former classmates, teachers and neighbors said they still could not square their memories of Mr. Crooks — an awkward, intelligent teenager who liked to tinker with computers and spent his weekends playing video games — with the image of the stringy-haired gunman at the rally, armed with his father’s AR-15-style rifle as he clambered onto a rooftop and took aim at the former president. Mr. Trump suffered an injury to his ear, and three spectators were wounded, one of them fatally.

“That’s where I’m struggling — I’ve looked at horrific pictures of an individual that I stood six inches away from, shaking his hand, calling on him in class,” said Xavier Harmon, who saw Mr. Crooks almost daily in the computer technology class he taught at a technical school.

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Trump rally shooter Thomas Crooks: Neighbors, classmates, employer speak

A 20-year-old man from Pennsylvania fired multiple shots at former President Donald Trump at a rally on Saturday evening.

A bullet grazed the presumptive Republican presidential nominee's upper right ear , leaving him bloodied but not seriously injured. One rally attendee was killed in the gunfire and two others were "critically injured," authorities later said.

Here's what we know:

Who is the shooter at the rally?

The FBI identified Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the person behind the assassination attempt. Agency officials released little additional information, saying its investigation remains active and ongoing. They did not indicate what Crooks' motive might have been.

Crooks worked at a nearby nursing home. An administrator there told USA TODAY that the company was shocked to learn of the shooting and that Crooks had passed a background check for his job.

What did Thomas Crooks do at the crime scene?

During the shooting Saturday, Trump's right ear was injured, seconds before he was whisked off stage by Secret Service personnel.  One man attending the rally was killed  and two others were injured; Crooks was then killed by Secret Service agents , authorities said.

FBI special agent Kevin Rojek said on a call with media Sunday afternoon that authorities found "a suspicious device" when they searched the shooter's vehicle. Bomb technicians inspected the device and rendered it safe. 

"I'm not in a position to provide any expertise on the specific components of any potential bombs or suspicious packages," Rojek added. 

Rojek said law enforcement is sending the rifle and Crooks' cell phone, along with other evidence, to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia "for processing and exploitation."

"We're in the process of searching his phone," Rojek said.

Maps and graphics: What happened in the Trump assassination attempt

What is Crooks' background?

Crooks is registered to vote as a Republican in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, according to county voter records. His voter registration status has been active since 2021.

Federal Election Commission records show that in January 2021, Crooks made a $15 donation to the Progressive Turnout Project, a group working to increase voter turnout for Democrats.

Born Sept. 20, 2003, Crooks does not have a criminal record in Pennsylvania, nor has he been sued there, according to state court records. There is no record of him in federal court databases, either.

Where did Thomas Crooks work?

Crooks worked as a dietary aid, a job that generally involves food preparation, at Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation, less than a mile from his home. In a statement provided to USA TODAY on Sunday, Marcie Grimm, the facility's administrator, said she was "shocked and saddened to learn of his involvement."

"Thomas Matthew Crooks performed his job without concern and his background check was clean," Grimm said. "We are fully cooperating with law enforcement officials at this time. Due to the ongoing investigation, we cannot comment further on any specifics. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Former President Trump and the victims impacted by this terrible tragedy. We condemn all acts of violence."

The facility is owned by Kennett Square, Pennsylvania-based Genesis Healthcare. A job posting from the company for a dietary aid in the Pittsburgh area puts the pay at $16 an hour.

Thomas Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania

Crooks' home address is listed in Bethel Park, a suburb in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, voter records show. That three-bedroom brick house has been owned since 1998 by Matthew and Mary Crooks, who appear to be his parents. Telephone calls to the couple were not returned overnight.

Near the Crooks home, Dean Sierka, 52, said he had known Crooks and his parents for years, as neighbors separated by only a few houses. Sierka’s daughter attended school with Crooks from elementary school through Bethel Park High School, and said she remembers him as quiet and shy.

Dean and his daughter said they would see Crooks at least once a week, often when Crooks was walking to work.

“You wouldn’t have expected this,” Dean Sierka said. “The parents and the family are all really nice people.”

At Bethel Park High School

Thomas Crooks graduated two years ago from Bethel Park High School, the Bethel Park School District confirmed. He was included in a 2022 local news article about recipients of a National Math & Science Initiative Star Award at the public high school, which enrolls about 1,300 students.

Jason Kohler attended Bethel Park High School with Crooks and said he remembers the 20-year-old sat alone at lunch and was “bullied almost every day.” Kids picked on Crooks for wearing camouflage to class and his quiet demeanor, Kohler, 21, said.

Since hearing Crooks has been named as the shooter, Kohler has been speaking with classmates who knew him, most of whom are stunned by the news.“It’s really hard to comprehend,” he said.

Sean Eckert said he went to school with Crooks from 5th through 12th grade. He said Crooks always went by “Tom.“

They shared classes together in elementary and middle school. Eckert said Crooks, though "fairly smart," was quiet and rarely spoke up.

Eckert said Crooks did not seem to have many friends. He didn't recall Crooks being playing any sports, being involved in any clubs or student groups or going to popular campus events. He often wore hunting clothes, so Eckert assumed he hunted.

No one in Eckert's group text from high school seemed to know Crooks very well, he said. They were shocked that someone from their town had done this. They were even more surprised that it was Tom Crooks.

Nursing aide turned sniper: Thomas Crooks' mysterious plot to kill Trump

The gaming-oriented online site Discord said Sunday that it had found an account that appeared to be linked to the shooting suspect. The site removed the account, which “was rarely utilized, has not been used in months, and we have found no evidence that it was used to plan this incident, promote violence, or discuss his political views,“ according to a statement from a Discord spokesperson, adding that the company will coordinate closely with law enforcement.

Crooks was a member of the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club, a shooting club about 8 miles from his home. It is a sprawling complex of 180 acres with rifle, pistol and archery ranges, an area for dog training and a clubhouse, according to the club website.An attorney for the club, Robert Bootay III, confirmed Crooks' membership in an email to USA TODAY, but would not offer additional details.

Where is Bethel Park, Pennsylvania?

Bethel Park is a suburb of Pittsburgh and home to more than 32,000 people – about one thousand fewer than four years ago, according to the latest Census estimates. 

The majority-white, mostly college-educated community has a median household income of $102,177. 

Described as a charming retreat from the hustle and bustle of the big city to its north, Bethel Park boasts tree-line streets, friendly neighborhoods and a low crime rate.

Bethel Park is about 42 miles south of Butler, where the Trump rally was held. The leafy suburban street was alive with law enforcement overnight amid a multi-agency response to the shooting. A member of the Allegheny County bomb squad told reporters his team was headed into the house around midnight, but did not say why.

For hours afterward, the scene remained quiet, with deer passing under the police tape and an occasional neighbor stepping out of their house to see what was happening.

John Wolf, a local construction superintendent who lives down the road, said he’d talked with several worried neighbors.

“People are scared,” Wolf said.

How did Crooks shoot at Trump?

Crooks had been positioned on a rooftop more than 100 yards from the rally site, Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said. Law enforcement recovered an AR-style rifle from the scene.

Joseph Price, special agent in charge of the ATF in Pittsburgh, said the weapon used by the shooter was a rifle.“It was nothing special,” he said in an interview in the parking lot of the Butler Township Municipal Building.

Law enforcement is following up on a “number of suspicious occurrences,” said Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police, including accounts from witnesses who said they tried to flag police about the activity of a person outside the rally moments before the shooting.

The FBI said in a news release that the situation “remains an active and ongoing investigation, and anyone with information that may assist with the investigation is encouraged to submit photos or videos online at  FBI.gov/butler  or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.”

Contributing: Stephanie Warsmith, Tim Evans, Aysha Bagchi, Jessica Guynn, Bryce Buyakie

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Essays on Born a Crime

Born a crime essay topics for college students.

Choosing the right essay topic is crucial for college students. It allows you to explore your creativity and personal interests, making the writing process more engaging and rewarding. This page aims to provide you with diverse and thought-provoking essay topics, along with examples of and paragraphs for each topic.

Essay Types and Topics

Argumentative essay.

• Impact of technology on society
• Should college education be free?
• Gun control laws and their effectiveness

Example paragraph: In today's digital age, technology has become an integral part of our society, shaping the way we live, work, and communicate. However, the impact of technology on our lives has sparked a heated debate, with proponents and critics expressing contrasting views on its effects.

Example paragraph: The impact of technology on society is undeniable, and its consequences are multifaceted. As we navigate the complexities of a tech-driven world, it is essential to critically examine its effects and strive for a balance that benefits all members of society.

Compare and Contrast Essay

• Traditional education vs. online learning
• City life vs. rural life
• Public transportation vs. private car ownership

Example paragraph: The debate between traditional education and online learning has gained prominence in recent years, as technological advancements continue to reshape the landscape of education. While both approaches offer unique benefits, they also present distinct challenges that warrant a critical examination.

Example paragraph: The comparison between traditional education and online learning reveals the diverse opportunities and limitations associated with each approach. By understanding the nuances of both methods, we can make informed decisions that enhance the quality and accessibility of education for all learners.

Formatting Instructions

• <h1> for main headings
• <h2> for subheadings
• <p> for paragraphs
• <ul> and <li> for lists

Engagement and Creativity

As you explore the diverse essay topics provided on this page, remember to engage your critical thinking skills and express your creativity through thoughtful and well-structured essays. Your unique perspective and insights can make a significant impact on your writing and the reader's understanding.

Educational Value

Each essay type offers valuable learning outcomes that can help you develop essential skills for academic and professional success. From analytical thinking and persuasive writing to descriptive abilities and narrative techniques, essay writing serves as a platform for honing these critical skills.

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