| Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youth's Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Mark Mathabane |
| Genre(s) | Autobiography |
| Publisher | Macmillan |
| Publication date | 1986 |
| Media type | |
Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youth's Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa is Mark Mathabane's 1986 autobiography about life under the South African apartheid regime. It focuses on the brutality of the apartheid system and how he escaped from it, and from the township Alexandra, to become a well-known tennis player. He also depicted how the young black children dealt with racism and stereotypes. By embracing education he is able to rise out of despair and destituteness and make something of himself.
Contents |
Mark Mathabane is born into a poverty-stricken family during the apartheid years. Throughout childhood, he witnesses and suffers from hunger, violence, and racial stereotypes, learning to hate and fear whites. At his mother’s insistence, Mathabane starts school and learns to love it, rising to the top of his class in spite of frequent punishments due to his family’s late payments for school fees. He graduates from primary school with a scholarship that will pay for his secondary education. Mathabane’s grandmother becomes a gardener for a kind white family and this introduces Mathabane to books and tennis, due to the Smiths sending books and even a tennis racket home with his grandmother for him. He learns English from these books, and begins to play tennis frequently, eventually befriending a black tennis player who trains him. Mathabane joins the high school tennis team and begins to play in tournaments, unofficially sponsored by Wilfred Horn, owner of the Tennis Ranch. It is technically illegal for Mark to play there, but the law is ignored and he becomes comfortable with whites. Eventually renowned tennis player Stan Smith takes Mathabane under his wing when the two meet at a tournament. Stan pays for Mathabane to compete in tournaments and talks to his coach at the University of Southern California about Mathabane attending college in the states. The coach writes to colleges on his behalf and Mathabane earns a tennis scholarship to Limestone College and leaves for the U.S. in 1978.[1]
Kaffir Boy has been banned in a number of schools, including Cedar Crest High School, where the ban made headlines.[2] The bans are due to a controversial scene involving child prostitution and sodomy, which some have referred to as “pornography,” sparking another headline defending the scene.[3] While Mathabane wrote an article for the Washington Post stating that he would prefer it to be banned completely to being revised or censored,[4] Mathabane has since authorized a revised version for use in such schools.[5] The unrevised book is still used as high school reading material regardless of the controversial scenes.
The book Kaffir Boy has won the prestigious Christopher Award for inspiring hope. The book reached number one on the Washington Post Bestseller’s List and number three on the New York Times Bestseller’s List. It has also been chosen by the American Library Association for inclusion on the list of “Outstanding Books for the College-Bound and Life-Long Learners.” [6]