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"Brownie" is a contemporary short story about racism, the discrimination, which invisible but still exist in the relationship between blacks and whites. It like an obvious truth that if someone say something bad about blacks, they must be whites. For example, a member in Brownie troop tells Daphne that she is called nigger by a member in Troop 909. The girls in Brownie troop don't want to find out the deeper cause; they become angry after they hear that. And, of course, we can see a reason why they do not want to find out deeper because the girls of Troop 909 are whites. If the negative relationship between Brownie troop and Troop 909 represents the contradiction, then Daphne individually represents as an equal person who wants to change the negative …show more content…
relationship to the equal relationship. When Brownie troop asks Daphne go to the bathroom to implement a plan to teach Troop 909 a lesson, Daphne doesn't say anything. She does not join them because she does not feel angry when Troop 909 calls her "nigger".
She even comes to the bathroom and picks up the trash before Troop 909 comes to the bathroom; that means she helps Troop 909 instead teaches them a lesson as what the girls in Daphne's troop want her to do. Then, Brownie troop finds out that Troop 909 is echolalic; they repeat what they hear without knowing what they hear is good or bad. Thus, that is not their fault. At the end of this story, Daphne tells Laurel that Troop 909 just be nice. Daphne can see that Troop 909 is nice to her, not only her but also her troop, so there is no reason forbid her that she should not be nice to Troop 909, whites. Shortly afterwards, Laurel tells Brownie troop a story about what the Mennonite has done for her father. It represents that the relationship between blacks and whites are becoming better, represents that the whites are changing. For example, Laurel's father asks the Mennonites, whites, to paint his porch and they do it for him; they do it for free. This shows that they are good persons. What happened in the past between blacks and whites is not important; the important is they shouldn't allow it impacts you in the
present. Mennonites doesn't allow problem about the race impacts their personality in the present. The elements are connected rigorously. If each element separately represents each significant meaning in a logical sequence, then when the readers sum up these elements, they can see a deeper meaning in it that the connection between these elements represents the past go to the future. Analysing these elements in detail, the readers can see that the contradiction at the beginning of this story is not simply represents the negative relationship between blacks and whites but it also represents the past that blacks and whites don't like each other; they doubt and think bad about each other. Then, Daphne not only represents a positive change in blacks' thought but also represents the beginning of the future. She thinks good about Troop 909, whites. Thinking the way of Daphne, along with the story of Laurel, the readers can see that both blacks and whites are changing; the readers can see that there is a future for blacks and whites where they treat equal to each other. Daphne cleans the bathroom for Troop 909 and thinks good about them; Mennonites build the porch for Laurel's father for free. Blacks and whites help each other and respect for each other's values. This is future; blacks and whites are equal. The story with the connected elements leads the readers from the racism to the equality, from the contradiction to the contradiction be solved, from the past to the future logically.
Mrs. Turner is a mixed woman who dislikes and is racist towards darker black people. Mrs. Turner wants Janie to leave Tea Cake and go with her light-skinned brother. Janie isn’t interested, and Tea Cake despises Mrs. Turner. She views white people as some type of god whereas the black people are merely worshipers. Janie is also lighter skinned, so Mrs. Turner enjoys Janie’s company. Janie’s uninterested self feels that Mrs. Turner is racist but harmless. Tea Cake goes out of his way to get rid of Mrs. Turner with the fight in her restaurant.
To further show the injustice African Americans experience, African Americans and several other minority groups were barred from buying houses in desirable neighborhoods because African Americans, single white women, and elderly couples did not fit the ideal white middle class suburban family image (Haralovich, 76). The Hendersons are nicely dressed up for dinner―Alice is wearing a fancy dress and Harry is in a suit― in the pleasantly decorated dining room. Meanwhile, Beulah and Bill are less put together and less perfect; they are depicted eating in the plain kitchen wearing ordinary clothes. In addition, this recreates the slave and slave owner relationship from the Antebellum period. Indirectly supporting segregation, this shows the discrimination African Americans faced despite the massive efforts by various organizations to fight for equality. Beulah will never be shown eating with the Hendersons because her role is to be the maid: she is their employee, not their friend. However, because she is the Mammy, she will never pose a threat to the father’s masculinity or the family’s authority over
While watching Atticus during the trial, Scout learned a lot about her father. She learned that he was more than just an ordinary man to the Negroes. He was defending Tom Robinson, which meant a lot to them, because not many white people in the county would do a thing like that. Very few, if any, white men would defend a black man in a trial in a segregated county during the 1930’s. Because of what Atticus did more people, both white and black, gained respect for him. Scout saw that to the neighborhood people, Atticus was a very wise man, and a very good man, also. While Scout was watching from he balcony, she saw her father do something she had never seen. He told Bob Ewell to write his name on a sheet of paper. Scout saw that Bob was left handed, so he couldn’t have beaten up Mayella, because her black eye was on the right side of her face.
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”
Although unaware of the catalytic events that have occurred until much later in the story, Packer explicitly makes us aware from the first paragraph that Laurel and her troop not only share a cohesive group identity but that part of this unity is based around their obvious racial difference from the all-white group, Troop 909. The aggressive tone in this passage illustrates that there does not need to be any outright confrontation between the two groups; the conflict is already there as Troop 909 is “doomed from day one” (Packer, 185). Even before their arrival at camp, the group dynamics are inherently formed around race which subsequently leads to segregation, something that has only been reinforced throughout their lives in Atlanta’s suburbs. Because their total separation from the white community most likely stems from socioeconomic factors, it becomes clear that Laurel’s troop and community is on the “have not’s” side of the spectrum, fueling their prejudice and ignorance toward Troop...
The narrator of the story is Laurel, also known as "Snot." The first person point of view is important to the story because it shows the African American kids side of racial discrimination and prejudice. Laurel, the narrator of the story, is the protagonist in “Brownies.” Laurel is a dynamic character in the story, because she came to an epiphany about prejudice and racism and reaches a level of maturity in which she understands what is right and wrong. The antagonist in “Brownies” is Arnette, the leader of the African American troop. Arnette is considered a static character because she fails to accept different races. It says in the story “when you live in the south suburbs of Atlanta, it is easy to forget about whites”(Packer 186). Arnette fails to accept different races because she is not use to interacting with people of other races.
The whole short story revolves around this fight and it is full of racism. When Arnetta addressed to the other girls in the troop about what the white girls called Daphne the troop went along with what Arnetta said. Arnetta made the issue bigger then what it needed to be by saying that “’We can’t let them get away with that,’ dropping her voice to a laryngitic whisper, ‘We can’t let them get away with calling us niggers. I say we teach them a lesson’” (Packer 7). This quote really shows how racism can spiral out of control when you feel your race is brought up in a negative way. These young girls are showing racism that you would not expect so it is a good explanation as to why race can come in all different ages. When the girls plot out how they are going to jump the white girls, the way they come up with the idea makes it hard to fully understand that this is coming from a group of girls that are roughly around the age of ten. At the end when the girls realize that the white girls did not mean to say the racial slur intentionally and also that maybe they figured that Arnetta was making the whole thing up they realized that racial discrimination can go both ways. This is shown when Arnetta tells the leader of Troop 909 and points to the girl who said it but the leader tells her that she could not have said that because she doesn’t speak. Then Arnetta goes on to say
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.
In The Marrow of Tradition, Dodie symbolizes the forthcoming of the White race in the United States. During many different instances Dodie’s life is exposed. Most of the times that his life is threatened it is in his parents’ efforts to preserve the rigid color line that separates White and Black races. His parents regul...
Because of the laws against colored people, Rosaleen, as a black woman, lives with constraints in her life. For example, she cannot live in a house with white people (Kidd, p.8), she cannot represent Lily at the charm school (Kidd, p.19), or even travel in a car with white people (Kidd, p.76). The media is also influenced by racism, and constantly shows news about segregation such as the case of Martin Luther King, who is arrested because he wants to eat in a restaurant (Kidd, p.35), the “man in Mississippi was killed for registering to vote” (Kidd, p.44), and the motel in Jackson, that closes, because the owners don’t want to rent rooms to black people (Kidd, p.99).... ... middle of paper ...
Those two events may seem like nothing but it shows how even at the early age of 8, children are taught to spot the differences in race instead of judging people by their character. Directing after this Twyla mentions how her and Roberta “looked like salt and pepper standing there and that’s what the other kids called us sometimes” (202). On the first page of this short story we already have 3 example of race dictating how the characters think and act. With the third one which mentions salt which is white and pepper which is black we understand that one girl is white and one girl is black. The brilliance of this story is that we never get a clear cut answer on which girl is which. Toni Morrison gives us clues and hints but never comes out and says it. This leaves it up to us to figure it out for ourselves. The next example of how race influences our characters is very telling. When Twyla’s mother and Roberta’s mother meeting we see not only race influencing the characters but, how the parents can pass it down to the next generation. This takes places when the mothers come to the orphanage for chapel and Twyla describes to the reader Roberta’s mother being “bigger than any man
The author distinguishes white people as privileged and respectful compare to mulattos and blacks. In the racial society, white people have the right to get any high-class position in job or live any places. In the story, all white characters are noble such as Judge Straight lawyer, Doctor Green, business-man George, and former slaveholder Mrs. Tryon. Moreover, the author also states the racial distinction of whites on mulattos. For example, when Dr. Green talks to Tryon, “‘The niggers,’…, ‘are getting mighty trifling since they’ve been freed. Before the war, that boy would have been around there and back before you could say Jack Robinson; now, the lazy rascal takes his time just like a white man.’ ” (73) Additionally, in the old society, most white people often disdained and looked down on mulattos. Even though there were some whites respected colored people friendly, there were no way for colored people to stand parallel with whites’ high class positions. The story has demonstrations that Judge Straight accepted John as his assistant, Mrs. Tryon honor interviewed Rena, and George finally changed and decided to marry Rena; however, the discrimination is inevitable. For example, when Mrs. Tryon heard Rena was colored, she was disappointed. “The lady, who had been studying her as closely as good manners would permit, sighed regretfully.” (161) There, Mrs. Tryon might have a good plan for Rena, but the racial society would not accept; since Rena was a mulatto, Mrs. Tryon could not do anything to help Rena in white social life. The racial circumstance does not only apply on mulattos, but it also expresses the suffering of black people.
I was late for school, and my father had to walk me in to class so that my teacher would know the reason for my tardiness. My dad opened the door to my classroom, and there was a hush of silence. Everyone's eyes were fixed on my father and me. He told the teacher why I was late, gave me a kiss goodbye and left for work. As I sat down at my seat, all of my so-called friends called me names and teased me. The students teased me not because I was late, but because my father was black. They were too young to understand. All of this time, they thought that I was white, because I had fare skin like them, therefore I had to be white. Growing up having a white mother and a black father was tough. To some people, being black and white is a contradiction in itself. People thought that I had to be one or the other, but not both. I thought that I was fine the way I was. But like myself, Shelby Steele was stuck in between two opposite forces of his double bind. He was black and middle class, both having significant roles in his life. "Race, he insisted, blurred class distinctions among blacks. If you were black, you were just black and that was that" (Steele 211).
Racism (n): the prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other race (Wordnet search, 1), a controversial topic in today’s society, a subject that many people try to sweep under the rug, but yet a detrimental problem that has been present in America since the colonial era. Will this dilemma come to a halt? Can all Americans see each other as equals despite their skin color and nationality; and what role has it played in past generations versus today’s generations and how will it affect our future? Has this on going way of thinking gotten better or worse? These are questions raised when many think about the subject; especially members of American ethnic groups and backgrounds, because most have dealt with racial discrimination in their life time.
The world has lived through generations of racism and racial profiling. After the days of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Black Civil Rights Movement, the American people thought they had passed the days of hatred and discrimination. Although Americans think that they live in a non-racist society, minorities today still live in the chains of oppression and prejudice through sports, schools, and social media.