3. Group E--jcrowley26

In Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, discriminatory laws played a major role in shaping Trevor’s life. The book is a memoir about his experiences growing up as a mixed-race child in apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa, where laws strictly controlled racial interactions. Under apartheid, interracial relationships were illegal, meaning Trevor’s very existence was a crime. His mother, Patricia, had to go to great lengths to protect him, often pretending he wasn’t her son in public to avoid arrest. These laws not only dictated where people could live and work but also restricted their basic freedoms, creating a society rooted in segregation and fear.

Beyond legal discrimination, Trevor and his family also faced social prejudice and violence. Many communities saw him as neither Black nor White, leaving him feeling like an outsider. At times, Trevor and his mother were even attacked while walking through certain areas, highlighting the dangers of being different in a racially divided society.

Despite these hardships, Patricia’s faith and determination helped them navigate these challenges. She was a devout Christian who refused to let discriminatory laws dictate her life, instilling in Trevor the values of perseverance and resilience. Even after she was shot by Trevor’s stepfather, she survived and continued forward, showing the power of love and strength in the face of injustice.

Like the Immigrant Voices Make Democracy Stronger TED Talk, Born a Crime connects to the idea that marginalized people—including immigrants—bring new perspectives, fight for justice, and deserve to exist without facing discrimination. Both highlight how laws can be used to oppress, but also how love, resilience, and perseverance can challenge those injustices.

In my book Out Of Nowhere by Maria Padian, Tom is a senior in high school while also being captain of the soccer team. During the season there is a bunch of Somalian kids who join the team after immigrating and they are better then almost all of the kids.The best one is named Saeed, Tom and Saeed become good friends and they even got so close that Tom filled out Saeed's doctor things with his so Saeed can play on the team and since he is an immigrant he doesn't have a doctor or a dentist or any of the things to be able to play. Tom and his trouble making friend Donnie went and painted rival schools Maqoit's special rock.They get caught and then Tom gets sentenced to 100 community service hours and him and Donnie have to paint the rock to how it was before. The immigrants have a hard time finding there classes and navigating the school. The principal makes a dumb rule and makes its so the immigrants have to speak American and not just there language which makes it even harder for the immigrants to understand there classes and talk to people to get help. Tom's life starts going pretty well he breaks up with his girlfriend and starts dating Myla, Maquoit questions Saeed's eligiblity to play and he is then stopped from playing and then when a big storm strikes Saeed goes missing and his friend Donnie gets into a accident and is very hurt. At the hospital Tom hugs Saeed's sister and then Tom's ex girlfriend gets upset and take a picture and uploads it. The whole Somalian community gets upset at Saeed's sister's. Saeed was in Portland at a soccer game the night of the storm and just couldn't find a ride home. Tom tells Saeed about what happened between him and his sister but Saeed seems upset by it. Tom just doesn't understand why it's such a bad thing but that's just how it is in the Somali community. Not much longer after that Saeed's family just left. Tom is very upset about loosing his friend but finds out that they moved to Minneapolis to get away from the bad stuff and threats about Samira hugging Tom. 

A time when there was struggle was when " Same day as Saeed's fake birthday, Hell, same as every Somalias kids birthday" (Padian 326). 

In my book “ Out of Nowhere” by Maria Padian, Tom is a senior in high school and captain of the soccer team. His season is changed when Somali immigrants join the team and they are very skilled and better than pretty much everyone else on the team. One of these players is named Saeed, who Tom quickly befriends and even helps him fill out the permission slip so that he's allowed to play. With the help of the new teammates the soccer team starts winning games however Tom makes a big mistake, he and his troublemaker friend Donnie decide to paint their rival highschools special rock. They get caught in the act and everyone is mad at Tom, his parents, his coach, his principal, everyone. Tom gets sentenced to 100 hours of community service and has to repaint the rock back to how it was. At school the immigrants have a hard time finding classes and navigating the school because they barely know English. The confusion leads to other kids making fun of and picking on them which creates a hostile environment in the school. What doesn't help is the rule that the school puts in that students are only allowed to speak English in classrooms which makes it very difficult for the immigrants to communicate. Tom has to start doing his community service at a learning center for immigrant children. Here he meets Myla, a college student who Tom likes, however Tom has a girlfriend which makes things complicated. Tom goes there everyday after school to get his hours in and to see Myla. The soccer team continues to go well with the help of Saeed and the other immigrants. However in the most important game of the year against their rivals Maquoit, Ramadan is happening, so none of the immigrant players can eat or drink anything all day or during the game. Against the odds they beat them and everyone is hyped. Tom eventually breaks up with his girlfriend and starts seeing Myla, and everything in his life starts going great. However things start to go downhill, Maquoit questions the eligibility of Saeed so he isn't able to play. The whole team is angry about this and Saeed especially, when a huge storm comes in and the whole town loses power Saeed goes missing and everyone is worried. That same night, Tom gets a call from Donnie's mother saying that he was in an accident and is seriously hurt. Tom goes to the hospital and through the night most of their classmates show up to check up on Donnie. Tom sees Saeed’s sister Samira who never really liked Tom but Tom gives her a hug to comfort her because she's stressed about her brother missing. However Tom's ex-girlfriend sees this and takes a picture and posts it on facebook, this is very bad because Somali girls are not supposed to touch men. The whole Somali community is mad at Samira and Tom doesn't understand why. Saeed still doesn't show up and the team loses their playoff soccer game. Finally Saeed's family contacts the police and reports him missing.While Tom was being interviewed about Saeed by the police investigators Saeed walks into the house. As it turns out he was in Portland at a soccer game the night of the storm and just couldn't find a ride home. Tom tells Saeed about what happened between him and his sister but Saeed seems upset by it. Tom just doesn't understand why it's such a bad thing but that's just how it is in the Somali community. Soon after, Saeed's family was gone. Nobody knew where they went and they just vanished. Tom was upset about the whole situation and one day while studying with Myla, Myla showed him an email from Samira saying that they were okay and how they moved to Minneapolis. They were living there with their uncle and other relatives. And although Tom was sad they were gone he was still happy that he knew them.

I like how in your book you talk about how your character had to deal with living in a dangerous environment that is overthrown by war, this connects to my book with the character Saeed. He came to America after fleeing a similar situation and being a refugee. So it connects because of the shared experience of dealing with living in a dangerous place.