In the pre-chapter prologue, Noah explains how the original Indigenous people of South Africa, the Khoisan, slowly died out from disease and war, while others were “bred out of existence” (119) by Dutch colonists. This systematic interbreeding, intended to erase Indigenous identity, led to the existence of Colored people. Unlike Black tribes like the Xhosa and Zulu, Colored people during apartheid did not have a distinctive culture or language, but took aspects of their culture from their oppressors, the Afrikaners.

Growing up, Noah sees himself as “colored by complexion but not by culture” (122). He is “mixed”: he has a white father but speaks African languages and “identified as being black” (123), like his mother. Colored people dislike him either for his whiteness—his perfect English, white father, and private schooling—or his Blackness—his Afro hairstyle and African languages. 

Noah often gets bullied by Colored children. One time, he gets his bike stolen. Another time, he gets pelted with unripe mulberries until he cries and runs home. When he tells

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