Kaffir_Boy

The over powering of Apartheid in South Africa Some people abuse others because they are different from them. Many people hurt them but that does not stop them from trying to become equal. In the book Kaffir Boy by: Mark Mathabane the boy Johanna lives in South Africa. There was apartheid which separated whites and blacks, and treated the blacks poorly. Johanna faced apartheid and revolted agents it to try to find new ways to be equal with everyone. Johanna’s education was very important to him. He didn’t have money for supplies and materials like books and pencils needed for school, like the other kids had. He was strong and really wanted to get a good education and he became the top student in his class. The government also limited him to learn only the tribal ways but Johanna wanted to learn more. He believed that he could make something of himself. His granny brought home some books from her job and Johanna started to read them. All of his teachers and classmates thought he was lying and didn’t read the books. His goal was to learn two new English words a day, so that he could be fluent in English. He thought that a higher education was the gate way to success and he didn’t have a lot of supplies or opportunities to get a good education but he still concurred his goals. Johanna has a strong will to survive. His father was taken away to jail during a police raid, and Johanna wasn’t sure of what to do. When his father returned he was beaten and couldn’t work. Johanna wanted to help the family and get a job. He also joined a gang for a while and would mess around with them. Although, Johanna had to focus on his school work and supporting his family so they could survive. It was hard for them because the family was being torn apart, and he was trying to hold it together. Johanna had a lot of responsibilities to help his family at a young age. People abuse their power all the time to get what they want. The whites abused their power and took over the native’s land of the blacks. They made them stay in homesteads in the middle of the desert and forced them to have passport like books that have their papers in them. Their papers were used to live in townships. When a boy reached a certain age he needed those papers and Johanna needed them. He didn’t have his birth certificate and that was one of the many papers needed. When he went to the hospital to get them the white doctor would not give it to him. Johanna didn’t give up; he stayed strong and found a way to get his papers. Johanna found a white woman that would help them and she was able to get his birth certificate for him. Blacks were discriminated agents and were treated poorly but they stayed strong and fought for what they needed. Apartheid in South Africa treated blacks badly and discriminated agents them. Johanna experienced this in his schooling, family, and society, from whites. He studies hard and became the top of his class. He also got a job to help support his family and worked with the law of the whites that were put in place. He experienced many struggles and overcame them with hard work.