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Racism Exposed In 'Brownies'

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Relations between white and black have been fought with injustice for many decades. The story “Brownies” is filled with amusement, but it also has a purpose and a very important theme. As we all know the civil rights movement to have taken place and 1950’s-1960’s and government policies were put in place to remove the racist and prejudice actions from mankind. Racism still is in occurrence all around the world today. Racism has established a negative and mistrustful attitude that towards many races, particularly whites and African Americans. In the world, racism has a more different approach, it has become more modernized vs the old slavery days. In the story “Brownies” young black girls at the scout camp immediately felt threaten by a white …show more content…

They knew as fourth graders that skin color white is considered as “privileged” and that dark skin color was not. Cruelty is amongst the girls in the story “Brownies”, and is a big issue in the story. Some of the author’s choice of words illustrates the on-going racial tension between the two groups of girls. It is told in a child’s outlook and usually children form options based on parent’s beliefs. The girls seem to make fun of the white girls, calling them names and making jealously remarks toward them. You can tell that the young girls are unware of race/prejudice as they used the word “Caucasian” as a …show more content…

That opens the readers eyes to the unfairness and injustice experienced still today by society. Now the brownies feel superior and have the power over the troop 909 girls because of their mental status. Packer’s way of teaching the readers that prejudice is learned and it is unnecessary, I feel is genius. As the story dealt with many racial segregation and hostility issues, the reader could notice the racial segregation at the beginning of the story. There were only all white troops and all black troops, no mixing or other races. Would you consider that segregating? The fact the whites stuck together and the blacks stuck together, no making friendships or mixing of the two. Sounds like segregation to

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The author of “Brownies” uses similes, foreshadowing, and irony to portray the theme of racial discrimination and prejudice. In the story “Brownies” the entire story is more of a whole simile about the racial segregation and societies view on racial prejudice. As the Whites were described as having more money and being more over the top as the author says: “their rolled up sleeping bags chromatized with Disney characters: Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Mickey Mouse.” The bags to symbolize wealth because all of those bags actually truly cost the most that others really can’t afford the nice things like those sleeping bags.

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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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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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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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At the end of the story, they are almost about to fight their rival troop over someone claiming to have heard a girl call a black girl a “nigger”. What really happens is one of the more outspoken black girls is quick to jump on an accusation that probably did not happen with a negative intent. feel that “Brownies” was a great work of literature. I found it extremely interesting how ZZ Packer put these young girls in heavy situations, dealing with mature topics such as, racism. She also had the young girls using some adult language throughout the

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At the beginning of the story, all the girls are still “little children” and innocent. This all changes when one of the white girls from troop 909 calls one of the black girls a nigger. When the black girls heard of this, they decided to seek revenge on the white girls. When the troop

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This is our first look at the seperation of races. At this elementary school, there is a large presence of black children. The students refer to Dennis, a particular young child, as “the only white kid in our school,” (Packer 4). When the group of white girls, also known as Brownie troop #909, arrive to the school, the black girls see them as being so different. They even compare

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The discrimination in "Brownies" has spread both ways. Not only is it from white to black but also from black to white. When Snot's troop see Troop 909, Arnetta says “they smell like Chihuahuas, wet Chihuahuas" (2). Arnetta says this because she believes she is able to say anything she wants. This is due to her being a victim of racial prejudice and getting revenge.

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In this short story the Brownie troops at the summer camp appear either all black or all white, no mixed troop is present. This displays the constant segregation occurring and the influence it has on young children who are vulnerable to a racially segregated environment causing them to portray themselves a certain way. The black girls have little knowledge of people different than them, “When you lived in the south suburbs of Atlanta, it was easy to forget about whites. Whites were like those baby pigeons: real and existing, but rarely seen or thought about” (pg. 5), because of these girls have little contact with one another and the black girls are extremely conscious of the differences they posses. The feeling of differences comes from the world around them, what they hear and see affect their opinions tremendously.

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In this society, many judgements are made about people from different backgrounds. This causes many problems between people of other races. Racism can be shown in multiple ways such as by using overt and covert racism. In the two stories “The Stolen Party” by Liliana Hecker and “So What Are You, Anyway?” by Lawrence Hill, there are many examples of racist stereotypes.

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