Racial Discrimination In ZZ Packer's 'Brownies'

“Brownies” by ZZ Packers is a story told in first person, and it happens at Camp Crescendo. It is a story narrated by an African America girl by the name Laurel, nicknamed by other girls as Snot. She belongs to the Brownie Troop, and they are planning to rock horns with the Brownie Troop 909. It is good to note that Laurel’s troop is made up of black girls while Brown Troop 909 is made of all white girls. The two troops are rivals owed to their race. They hated one another from the time they first met, and the black girls said the white girls smelled “like Chihuahuas, Wet Chihuahuas” (Packer, 9). Throughout their stay in the camp, they engage in nasty things against each other owed to their hatred. In the story, people of different backgrounds

and races are seen and how they try to co-exist with each other amid all ignorance and prejudice that the world does not notice. Through this story, Packer sees discrimination as the primary cause of racism.
In the story, Packer presents the whites as people who in many instances are reinforced by the images they see in their daily life. He says; “They were white girls, their complexions a blend of ice cream: strawberry, vanilla” (Packer, 7). In this quote, the white girls have been elevated and made to appear like they are of a higher class as compared to the black girls. Of importance to note is that the girls in the Brown Troop are naive about accepting the race differences. They are from a town where they have never interacted with the white people, making it very hard for them to cope with the situation at the camp. They have an unfamiliar history relating to different races, something that has contributed to their naivety and prejudice depicted in the story. Laurel says; “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” (Packer, 13). As the story closes, Laurel reveals to other girls the experience of her father with the Mennonites. This clearly shows that Laurel has come a long way to reach maturity where she can differentiate between wrong and right.
From the happenings in “Brownies” by ZZ Packers, it is clear that the whites are seen as superiors by the black community.

Somehow, everything about the whites appear to elicit a reigning beauty that raises hatred and envy the black girls have against the white girls. Packer argues that even small thing like hair contributes to hostility. The fourth grade says; “their long, shampoo-commercial hair, straight as spaghetti from the box” (Packer, 16). These reinforcements are ingredients of prejudice that brings about racial discrimination. The black girls get jealous of the white girls’ hair, and this leads to discrimination against them. It is worth noting that the prejudices are handed down by the environment and society that people are brought up in. Arnetta, remembers a mall experience when she and her mother were being seen as if they were from China. They were being discriminated because of their race. The various treatments given to black people has played a vital role in intensifying the issue of prejudice, magnifying people’s sense of inferiority, and shaping the views of the black people on the white people. Arnetta says; “Even though I didn’t fight to fight, was afraid of fight, I felt I was part of the rest of the troop; like I was defending something” (Packer, 12). This is a clear indication that society has the power to influence youths. It depicts how society joins hands to fight for what they think is their right. Owed to the fact that this is a society. Everything and everyone is interlinked in a given way, making racism and prejudice hard to do away

with.
According to Packer (25), racial discrimination is the main reason many people are suffering in America. In his story, he shows how human beings are somehow in their way unfortunate and deprived. There is an ironic twist of this story when the black girls encounter the white girls who are mentally challenged. This depicts injustice and unfairness present in the modern world. In this particular scene, the black girls are seen as superior to the white girls due to their mental status. It is a show of how the black girls are taking advantage of the white girls’ mentally challenged states to discriminate against them. There is also a scene where the white Mennonites paint the porch of Laurel; hence, switching identities between the whites and blacks. In addition, she attests that her father did not receive the Mennonites well despite the fact that they helped him in painting the porch. It is an apparent show that people have decided to adopt coldness when relating with people of different races. Through the use of contrast and iron, Packer has managed to show the audience that it is hard to find perfection in the world. No one can be termed to be perfect, and it is the imperfections of life that impose misfortunes on the lives of people.
Because of human preconceptions, suffering has been limited to human ignorance and racism. In this story, there is injustice in the way the white and black girls relate. Because of their ignorance, suffering is inescapable. Packer says; “There was something mean in the world that I could not stop” (Packer, 19). This indicates that the issues the white girls and the black girls were facing are being experienced in the modern world. In the present day world, racial discrimination is a matter that is causing a lot of suffering among people in different parts of the world.
To sum it up, the racial hostility and prejudice that Packer shows in his story are a product of historical circumstances together with racial discrimination. The two Brownie troops who are attending a summer camp are divided along racial lines. There are black girls and white girls who have hatred for each other owed to their race. These are girls who have been raised in an environment where racial segregation is the order of the day. In this story, Packer tries to explore the cause of human suffering by looking at human prejudice and suffering that is linked to human ignorance and racism. He concludes that owed to human ignorance, it has become hard to eliminate suffering from society. In as long as humans keep being ignorant, suffering will always be there.