What happens when a group of impressionable young black girls with a vague understanding of societal prejudices are offered autonomy in a setting that would allow for them to gain some measure of perceived reprisal? “Brownies” by ZZ Parker, follows a Brownie troop from the city of Atlanta, Georgia over the course of the final few fateful days of a weekend camping trip. The story is told from the perspective of our protagonist and one of the more reserved troop members, Laurel a.k.a. “Snot”. Through her we garner an understanding of the other troop members as they plot to “kick the asses of each and every girl in Brownie Troop 909. Troop 909 was doomed from the first day of camp, they were white girls” (38). The plan that the girls came up with …show more content…
In “Brownies”, the author does not specifically state the time period that the story is set-in, the reader has to use the few pop-culture references that are made. Based on the musical references made by the author, “Elise began humming the tune to ‘Karma Chameleon’… Janice also began to hum, against everyone else, the high-octane opening chords of ‘Beat It’” (43), the time period of the piece is most likely the early 1980’s. The use of this time period is interesting, as overt racism was still an accepted norm in many parts of the United States, particularly in the southern states like Georgia. While Laurel and the girls in her troop may not have directly experienced prejudice, their perspective of the world and others in it has probably been tinged by the perspective of the people that hold the most influence over them. The wounds of the past were most likely still very fresh for the older family members of …show more content…
As an example of the lessons learned from family members, Laurel tells the story of how her father requested that a group of Mennonites paint his porch. When asked by one of her troop members, “why… would someone pick a porch?” (51). Laurel quotes her father’s answer, “it was the only time he’d have a white man on his knees doing something for a black man for free” (51). This is telling of the overall perception of race relations that these girls have been indoctrinated with. These indirect lessons, while most likely not meant to be an education of frustration and hostility towards Caucasians, is the foundation for the events of ZZ Packers’ “Brownies”. An example of the latent racism festering within Laurel and her troop is portrayed through the flippant, demeaning or derogatory manner that the word Caucasian is used by them and their
Given that they stood out Arnetta started the manipulation by calling the white girls “Wet Chihuahuas” (p.516) and then upping it to racial name calling to “Caucasian Chihuahuas” (p.517). Therefore, it was no surprise that by the second day of camp Arnetta already had the brownie troop ready to inflict harm on the white girls troop. Knowing that Daphne would not question her, Arnetta claimed she overheard one of the white girls call Daphne “…a nigger…” (p.519). When Arnett speaks to the rest of the troop, it changes to them “…calling us niggers.” to encourage the other girls in the troop to “…teach them a lesson”
Detrimental stereotypes of minorities affect everyone today as they did during the antebellum period. Walker’s subject matter reminds people of this, as does her symbolic use of stark black and white. Her work shocks. It disgusts. The important part is: her work elicits a reaction from the viewer; it reminds them of a dark time in history and represents that time in the most fantastically nightmarish way possible. In her own words, Walker has said, “I didn’t want a completely passive viewer, I wanted to make work where the viewer wouldn’t walk away; he would either giggle nervously, get pulled into history, into fiction, into something totally demeaning and possibly very beautiful”. Certainly, her usage of controversial cultural signifiers serve not only to remind the viewer of the way blacks were viewed, but that they were cast in that image by people like the viewer. Thus, the viewer is implicated in the injustices within her work. In a way, the scenes she creates are a subversive display of the slim power of slave over owner, of woman over man, of viewed over
Racism is an attribute that has often plagued all of American society’s existence. Whether it be the earliest examples of slavery that occurred in America, or the cases of racism that happens today, it has always been a problem. However, this does not mean that people’s overall opinions on racial topics have always stayed the same as prior years. This is especially notable in the 1994 memoir Warriors Don’t Cry. The memoir occurred in 1957 Little Rock, Arkansas and discusses the Melba Pattillo Beals attempt to integrate after the Brown vs. Board of Education court case. Finally, in Warriors Don’t Cry, Melba Pattillo Beals discusses the idea that freedom is achievable through conflicts involving her family, school life, and friends.
Martin Luther King once said, "we must live together as brothers or perish as fools." This statement illuminates the importance of the features of concern, compassion, and knowledge. The color of a person’s skin tone would result in harsh and unfair treatment. Even though they would be alienated by their peers and others, many African Americans chose to stand up for their rights. These truths were revealed when the famous little rock nine took their courageous stand regardless of their odds. In the novel, Warriors don't Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals and a Roundtable discussion facilitated by NBC news, the disturbing truths behind the struggles of integration are brought to life.
The short story, “Brownies” is written by author, ZZ Packer. It surrounds a group of African American Brownie girls in the fourth grade who journey to a campsite situated near the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia, called Camp Crescendo. On the trip, they encounter another brownie group comprised of white girls, all of who are mentally handicapped. “Brownies” is told from a first person involved point of view, through a Brownie member from the African American troop, named Laurel. Because the story takes place in the 1960’s, ZZ Packer explores issues that are prevalent in that time period, such as racial segregation and prejudice.
Janie’s first discovery about herself comes when she is a child. She is around the age of six when she realizes that she is colored. Janie’s confusion about her race is based on the reasoning that all her peers and the kids she grows up with are white. Janie and her Nanny live in the backyard of the white people that her Nanny works for. When Janie does not recognize herself on the picture that is taken by a photographer, the others find it funny and laughs, leaving Janie feeling humiliated. This racial discovery is not “social prejudice or personal meanness but affection” (Cooke 140). Janie is often teased at school because she lives with the white people and dresses better than the other colored kids. Even though the kids that tease her were all colored, this begins Janie’s experience to racial discrimination.
Brownies treats Troop 909 by the pretty cruel way; they treat the whites the way they don 't want the whites to treat them. Like the word "nigger", "caucasian" is a negative word which Brownies created one month before the camp starts and uses it to tease someone. When Arnetta calls Troop 909 "Caucasian Chihuahuas", the other girls in her troop laugh at it, but later on they are mad because the word "nigger" hits their self-esteem. This shows racist theme clearly. To the Brownies, it is acceptable if they treat Troop 909 cruelly and laugh at it, but if these echolalic girls do the same way to them, Brownies will get mad. They let themselves have the right to do this, do that, but they don 't give this right to the white girls. It is not righteous; it is a part of
As a group, we believe that popular culture does in fact perpetuates stereotypes. Television is a main source of information of popular culture. Television has forever changed how humans have interacted with another and introduce a world of diversity and knowledge. But with this profit, television has also harbored negative aspects. As a group, we studied how racial stereotypes are portrayed in television. In the history of television, different racial and ethnic groups have been widely underrepresented and television itself has been overwhelming represented by white figures. And when racial groups are presented on TV, the characters are often played in limited roles based on stereotypes. A stereotype isn’t necessarily untrue, but it is an assumption based on an incomplete and complex ideas that are oversimplified into something that isn’t what it meant to be, and it’s usually negative. For example, African Americans are often depicted as violent or involved in some kind of criminal activity. Their characters often portrays a person who is always sassy and angry or that isn’t intelligent and won’t succeed in life and inferior to whites in some manner. Asian characters are
In the book Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals, the author describes what her reactions and feelings are to the racial hatred and discrimination she and eight other African-American teenagers received in Little Rock, Arkansas during the desegregation period in 1957. She tells the story of the nine students from the time she turned sixteen years old and began keeping a diary until her final days at Central High School in Little Rock. The story begins by Melba talking about the anger, hatred, and sadness that is brought up upon her first return to Central High for a reunion with her eight other classmates. As she walks through the halls and rooms of the old school, she recalls the horrible acts of violence that were committed by the white students against her and her friends.
African-Americans aged 12 and up are the most victimized group in America. 41.7 over 1,000 of them are victims of violent crimes, compared with whites (36.3 over 1,000). This does not include murder. Back then during the era of the Jim Crow laws, it was even worse. However, during that time period when there were many oppressed blacks, there were many whites who courageously defied against the acts of racism, and proved that the color of your skin should not matter. This essay will compare and contrast two Caucasian characters by the names of Hiram Hillburn (The Mississippi Trial, 1955) and Celia Foote (The Help), who also went against the acts of prejudice.
In her memoir Warriors Don’t Cry, Melba Pattillo Beals describes her experiences as she became one of the first nine black students educated in an integrated white school. She and her friends, who became known as the “Little Rock Nine”, elicited both support and criticism from their family members, friends, community members, military troops, in addition to the President of the United States. Melba’s experiences, while heartbreaking and sobering, highlight the strength to overcome that individuals can have over a system intent on keeping them down. Throughout her experience, Melba’s views and attitudes have changed quite a bit. When she first volunteered to be one of the first black students to attend Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, Melba was full of excitement.
A small joke about anything racist could be funny at the time but in the long run, it could lead to a devastating effect on someone. At the young age of 15, a boy named Tharukshan Selvan committed suicide over racist bullying. People made fun of his appearance and skin colour. This is only a mere example taken to the extreme of how people suffer from this horrible epidemic. It happens all around us and the only result is suffering. People suffer either mentally or physically and in some cases, it is taken too far. Both Ernest Buckler in “Long, Long After School”, and Sherman Alexie in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian examine this idea of how Wes and Junior suffer as they are victims of stereotyping . First, in ”Long Long After
In the short story “Brownies,” author ZZ Packer uses the narrator, Laurel, to explore the tensions that exist between belonging to a community and maintaining individuality. While away at camp with her brownie troop, she finds herself torn between achieving group inclusion and sustaining her own individualism. Although the events of the short story occur at Camp Crescendo, Packer is able to expand (and parallel) this struggle for identity beyond the camp’s walls and into the racially segregated society that both the girls and their families come from. Packer is exploring how an individual’s inherent need for group inclusion consequently fuels segregation and prejudice against those outside the group across various social and societal stratums.
When a group of children known as the Little Rock Nine stepped onto the campus of Central High School of Arkansas on September 4th, 1957, they changed history forever. By being the first black students to attend a traditionally white high school, the nine students helped move America toward a more fair and constitutional attitude toward colored people. To Kill a Mockingbird was written during this time period and deals with many of the same cultural issues even though it’s story takes place a few decades earlier. If this were not the case and the novel’s characters had grown up during the same time as the Little Rock Nine, there is no doubt that Scout, Atticus, Bob Ewell, and many other characters would have had strong opinions about and may have even taken action for or against the Little Rock Nine or the Civil Rights movement as a whole.
“Brownies” is a short story that was written from an African American female’s view of how a group of young African American girls spend their time at summer camp. These girls are from south Atlanta where whites are seldom seen. Girl Scouts are usually lumped into a category of young and innocent. However, the light that the writer put them in reflected something completely different. The writer wrote this way so that the reader can see the girls for who they really are without feeling pity for them. Evident from the very first sentence of the story, the girls view on race plays a huge role in their lack of tolerance and their view on the world.