A Helping Hand Marissa Gorman 10th Grade

Governments are not always on the side of the people. Throughout history, there has always been a group of people who are oppressed by their country. This was the case for South Africa during the later half of the twentieth century. A time when apartheid allowed the government to discriminate against black and colored South Africans. When racist and inhumane treatment is institutionalized and deeply ingrained in society, it takes more than one marginalized voice to make a change for themselves or to step outside of the submission that has been forced on them since birth. It takes someone on the other side to step in and lend a hand. In Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane, Mark’s personal strength is not enough to set him up for success. In a country where everything is stacked against him, it would have been impossible for him to succeed without the assistance of white people.

One of the first positive interactions Mark has with white people is with the Smiths, the family that Mark’s grandmother works for. They give Mark lots of hand-me-downs from their son, such as clothes and games, but most importantly, they give him comic books. “Having never owned a comic book in my life, I tirelessly read them over and over again, the parts I...