''Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youth's Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa'' is

Mark Mathabane Mark Mathabane (born Johannes Mathabane, 18 October 1960) is a South African author, lecturer, and a former collegiate tennis player and college professor. Early life in South Africa Mathabane was born in Alexandra, South Africa, an area that ...

's 1986

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

about life under the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

regime. It focuses on the brutality of the

system and how he escaped from it, and from the township

Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "p ...

, to become a well-known tennis player. He also depicted how the young black children dealt with

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagoni ...

and stereotypes. By embracing education, he is able to rise out of despair and destitution.

Plot summary

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 and inability to afford school supplies. He graduates from primary school with a scholarship that will pay for his secondary education. Mathabane's grandmother becomes a gardener for a liberal white English family, the Smiths, who give Mathabane second hand

comic books A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are oft ...

, novels and tennis equipment. His English improves greatly through reading these materials, and he begins to play tennis frequently. Mathabane eventually befriends a coloured tennis coach 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 more comfortable with whites who frequent the Tennis Ranch. Eventually renowned tennis player

Stan Smith Stanley Roger Smith (born December 14, 1946) is an American former professional tennis player. Smith is best known to non-tennis players as the namesake of a popular brand of tennis shoes. A world No. 1 player and two-time major singles cha ...

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 United 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.

Characters and important people

Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He started to play tennis at six years old. He was the first black player selected to the Un ...

– A black American tennis player who wins the Wimbledon tournament. His game play encourages Mathabane to become a tennis player. *

– The author so narrator of the book *The Smiths – The white family who introduced Mathabane to comic books and tennis. *Wilfred Horn – Owner of exclusive Tennis Ranch and unofficial sponsor of Mathabane. *

– Renowned tennis player who relocates Mathabane to the United States by finding a college who is willing to give the author a tennis scholarship. * be 'Scara' Thomas- Was like a father to Mark. He introduced him to tennis, gave him his first tennis racquet and mentored/coached him until he got the scholarship to the USA. He introduced Mark to different people who were prominent in the tennis circle. Abe Thomas loved Marvel comic books and collected them.

Controversy

''Kaffir Boy'' has been banned in a number of schools, one of these being

Cedar Crest High School Cedar Crest High School is a public high school located in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. The school serves over 2000 students in grades 9 to 12 in the Cornwall-Lebanon School District. General information Cedar Crest High School was founded in 1966. The ...

, where the ban made headlines. The bans are due to a controversial scene involving child prostitution of young boys, which some have referred to as "pornography," sparking another headline defending the scene. While Mathabane wrote an article for ''The Washington Post'' stating that he would prefer it to be banned completely to being revised or censored, Mathabane has since authorized a revised version for use in such schools. The unrevised book is still used as high school reading material regardless of the controversial scenes.

Reception and awards

The book ''Kaffir Boy'' has won the prestigious

Christopher Award The Christopher Award (established 1949) is presented to the producers, directors, and writers of books, films and television specials that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit". It is given by The Christophers, a Christian organizatio ...

for inspiring hope. The book reached number one on the

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

Bestseller's List and number three on the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

Bestseller's List. It has also been chosen by the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

for inclusion on the list of "Outstanding Books for the College-Bound and Life-Long Learners."{{cite web , url = http://mathabane.com/mark_mathabane_books.html , title = Books , accessdate = 2010-10-26 , last = Mathabane , first = Mark , work = Mark Mathabane Official Website , url-status = dead , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20101125065635/http://www.mathabane.com/mark_mathabane_books.html , archivedate = 2010-11-25

References

1986 non-fiction books Books about apartheid Sports autobiographies Tennis books South African non-fiction books