Born a Crime, Chapter 9

After the move to Eden Park, Noah finds himself isolated and lonely because although he is surrounded by other colored people, he is viewed as other. Under apartheid, colored people occupied an ambivalent political and social status where they were elevated above blacks but constantly reminded that they were inferior to whites. Categorization under apartheid was illogical and arbitrary: if someone "appeared" white enough due to skin color, accent, or mannerism, they could get reclassified as white. They could also get demoted to Black. Ethnic groups were assigned arbitrarily: Chinese people were classified as Black, while Japanese were classified as white. Noah is in a particularly ambivalent position because he largely identifies as Black and proudly speaks African languages, but he also speaks perfect English and is well-educated.