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Racial Prejudice In ZZ Packer's 'Brownies'

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Brownies "is a story about ZZ Packer, a young African-American writer, based on racism The story tells the story of a Brownie troop of fourth-grade African-American girls from suburban Atlanta, Georgia. They go to the summer camp and meet a group of white girls in the camp and believe that one of the white girls has sent them a racial insult. But the Black girls hated white girls when they first saw them and called them "Chihuahuas." Therefore, Arnetta, one of the black girls who says she heard one of the white girls call Daphne a "negro" The African-American girls decide to beat the white girls. The first notable fact in the history; is that Brownie's troops at the summer camp appear to be all-white or all-black. Therefore, the story had another twist, when African-American girls discover that the situation is not as clear as they thought. The Racial prejudice is visible in the history. …show more content…

Nevertheless, he is trapped inside Harlem and his housing projects. Unfortunately, Sonny first chooses the wrong path and gets involved in drugs. He was arrested and sent to prison. When he got out, his brother teacher asks him, what he wants and life. He said “I want to be a musician and he was able to escape from Harlem because of poor treatment and prejudice.as he become a musician, he was able to express his frustration while playing the piano, he was able to free himself and live as free as all other men in

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Brownies is a short story written by ZZ Packer. She writes this story from the perspective of a fifth-grade girl in a brownie troop. This first-person narrative gives the story an interesting view of the world through the eyes of a young girl going to camp. Our narrator, has a nickname given to her by the girls in the brownie group. “I had been called ‘Snot’ ever since first grade, when I’d sneezed in class and two long ropes of mucus had splattered a nearby girl” (Packer 42).

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407 Words | 2 Pages

Racial tension has been a hot topic in our country for a long time. No matter what laws and regulations are passed, there will still always be racial tensions and cruel people. In the short story “Brownies” by ZZ Packer, a young group of black girls are at a scout camp with other young, white girls. After being called the N word by a the group of white girls, the young black girls believe they are being discriminated against. Throughout the story, Packer depicts the very real problem of racial discrimination in young kids, just as in older adults.

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255 Words | 2 Pages

He hasn’t seen his brother in about a year, but as he is walking out of his school he notices a familiar face and it turns out being one of his brother’s old friend. The old friend spoke to the narrator about how hard Sonny’s struggle is now and how it will still be a struggle later. The narrator went

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1385 Words | 6 Pages

In the book, there are significant racial tensions and racial divisions in society. Young Black women like Lauren, the primary character, must find their way in a society where they face prejudice and marginalization. In the story, racism is shown as a persistent menace in a society where one's character or aptitudes are more often evaluated than the color of one's skin. Unfortunately, this is a problem that persists in modern culture. The work emphasizes the consequences of institutionalized racism, which persists today.

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366 Words | 2 Pages

2 Questions of “Brownies” 1. In the short story, “Brownies,” I would describe the narrator, whose name is Laurel, as a shy and timid girl, questioning the way people act. Most of the girls in her group do not take a liking to her, for she says, “[They] already decided their course of action, me being the only impediment” (Packer 847). Moreover, the narrator is very smart because she is skeptical, for she is the only one who questions the girls if they, in fact, heard troop 909 call one of the girls a nigger.

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365 Words | 2 Pages

Sonny’s letter written to the narrator in response to the news of the narrator’s daughter dying serves an important role in the story by reestablishing the relationship between the brothers and giving the reader insight into the misery that Sonny felt as a result of his actions. It is revealed to the reader that before the narrator had written his letter to Sonny, that the two had not been on speaking terms for a long time. After hearing of the news, Sonny wrote the letter back to the narrator which formally began their newfound connection to each other. It is revealed within the letter Sonny’s reasoning’s behind his imprisonment as well as the sadness he felt within. Sonny describes himself as “trying to climb up out of some deep, real deep

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620 Words | 3 Pages

The plot of the short story, “Brownies”, by ZZ Packer, is of a troop of young girl scouts who are of African American descent. The story depicts them attempting to brawl with another group due to the “brownie” troop assuming another called them a particular insult. Whether the other troop, Troop 909, in called the others a racial slur is left to ambiguity, although it is strongly suggested that they did not in fact refer to them in an invective manner. When the other troop is confronted about it, it is discovered that Troop 909 simply consisted of mentally disabled girls all in one group. Due to this, it is only fitting that the theme of the story was to indicate individuals with disadvantages in life should rejoice and unify rather than combat

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1335 Words | 6 Pages

My God, how would he support himself? A family? What about respectability within a brutal and unforgiving racist society? The narrator, being the primary caretaker of young Sonny after the death of their mother, tried to fulfill her wishes and take care of his younger brother. He wanted to put Sonny on a stable path, but he did not know that Sonny was already in the throes of drug addiction as a result of the pain and moral decay that was around him within the streets of Harlem.

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2386 Words | 10 Pages

Literary Analysis Essay William Howard The short story that I chose for my literary analysis essay is “Brownies” By ZZ Packer. This fictional short story had a powerful meaning because it focused on how racial stereotyping can cause a lot of problems even among young girls who were attending a Girl Scouts camp. “Brownies” also showed how stereotyping can actually be harmful and can sometimes lead to hurtful consequences for the person who is the victim of it and for the person is guilty of stereotyping someone. I decided to do my analysis of this short story using the historical context element because of the long history of problems between the Black and White races in this country according to our history books, including

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1417 Words | 6 Pages

Although both characters were different they found an understanding by trying to feel what each other were feeling. Also by coping with their tough childhood and feelings together without directly communicating. Sonny wanted so desperately to please his brother, but couldn’t find a way to avoid Jazz but still get that feeling he craved. Sonny was clearly disappointed and embarrassed by his choice of actions and despite what anyone said, he realized the choice he made was poor and it was time to follow his dream. At the end, the narrator realizes why Sonny turned to drugs in the first place.

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1857 Words | 8 Pages

A pressing, socio-economic issue seen prevelantly in today’s society is racism. The term has been used for a long time, but has still found its way to stay in the current vocabulary of people in the twenty-first century. The timeless occurence of racism in society has been documented in a piece of literature that enables the horrors of this foulness to forever be known. “Brownies” by ZZ Packer made its way to the shelves in 2003 and has left many in awe of the in-depth perception of how people of the black race were mistreated. The story starts off when a group of black girls were mistreated by a group of white girls at a retreat known as Camp Crescendo (Packer 1).

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1584 Words | 7 Pages

For all the characters, Sonny was a son who helped his family and embraced his African heritage; these features were really considered and respected. Contrary to the narrator who melted or tried to melt in the American culture in order to survive, but the turning point occurred when he lost his daughter; so he recognize the pain of the others as well as his brother that he was forgotten during years ago. Besides, thanks to his brother’s music the narrator finds redemption. The evolution of the character’s trait moves from being a selfish person to a suffering man who finally finds peace deep inside himself.

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1215 Words | 5 Pages

Through this conversation, the narrator gained respect and insight on Sonny's life in the times that he was not there. Sonny was cryptic in his speaking at first but eventually made it very clear to his brother and even said, "the reason I wanted to leave Harlem so bad was to get away from drugs" (89). The narrator does not have much to say, but ultimately blames all of this on the "vivid, killing streets of [their] childhood" (73), that neither of them had truly escaped. He once thought they both had, him by becoming a teacher and Sonny by simply not living in Harlem for years, but in this moment, he realizes that not much has really changed - they still faced those streets, the only difference now was that they knew what they inherit. Sonny convinced his brother to come watch him play - the narrator knowing he could not possibly say no.

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1263 Words | 6 Pages

His music got African Americans through such rough times. His voice gave them hope as well. He was the one that shaped the way that jazz is today. The Harlem Renaissance was an important movement that showed the talents of gifted African American musicians, poets, artist, and many

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388 Words | 2 Pages

As said in the story “Some escaped the trap, most didn’t. those who got out always left something of themselves behind, as some animals amputate a leg and leave it in the trap” (Baldwin pg. 129). Both the narrator and sonny was able to escape the overpowering pull of Harlem in different ways. The narrator of the Sonny’s Blues was able to get out and he lived a happy life, having a family and a career while sonny got stuck and ended up doing drugs and eventually got himself arrested. The narrator was an algebra teacher.

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