Mathabane does not lecture the reader; instead, the details of his story show what happens when racist brutality is made law. Mathabane does not shrink from relating his own failures, which include hanging out in gangs, battling with his father, and feeling hatred for all white people. Mathabane dwells on his own attitudes in the second half of the book, demonstrating how he overcomes his hatred for whites and learns to judge people as individuals.
When Kaffir Boy was published in 1986, apartheid was still an official government policy in South Africa. Most educated people and governments in the rest of the world knew about apartheid in a vague sense, but few knew the full extent of the South African government's stance. Mathabane's autobiography thus became an important historical document. Mathabane describes significant events in the history of apartheid that were poorly covered by the Western press, such as the Sharpeville Massacre and the Soweto riots. Kaffir Boy is an important political work, as well. As Mathabane explains in the preface, his goal in writing the book was to help abolish apartheid. Now that apartheid has ended, the book still serves to demonstrate the horrifying consequences of institutionalized injustice and inequity.
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