Societal Stereotypes In Brownies, By ZZ Parker

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

includes falsely accusing a Troop 909 member of saying a racial slur and then exacting their misguided revenge. Laurel’s insights reveal how the greater regional setting, or the secondary setting, and time period of the story, while not active in the telling, play a greater role in the events portrayed than the primary setting. The primary setting is merely the conduit for the characters release of suppressed frustration and anger which has been built up through the experiences of those closest to them.
The time period in which a story is set can be a significant factor in the actions and behaviors of the characters.

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

Laurel
and her troop and without meaning to, have taught the girls that prejudice is a part of life and it is to be accepted.

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

classmates:
If you ate too fast you ate like a Caucasian, if you ate too slow you ate like a Caucasian. The biggest feat anyone at Woodrow Wilson could do was to jump off the swing in midair, at the highest point in its arc, and if you fell… instead of landing on your feet, knees bent Olympic gymnast style, Arnetta and Octavia were prepared to comment… ‘Caucasian’. Even the only white kid in our school, Dennis, got in on the Caucasian act. That time when Martez stuck a pencil in the socket, Dennis had pointed and yelled, ‘That was so Caucasian’ (39).
The use of the word in such a manner is reminiscent of other terms that are thrown around playgrounds that are wholly unacceptable descriptors of someone’s shortcomings due to mental/physical capacity or sexual tendencies. The use of the word Caucasian in such a manner and its underlying effect on the opinions of the troop, is directly associated with the secondary setting of their neighborhoods and not the primary setting of the story. All of the reasons for Laurel’s troops’ behavior can be understood through the glimpses that the author provides us into the lives of these girls beyond the camp grounds.
The primary setting of the story plays a significant role in Laurel understanding one of life’s cruelest truths, that it is not fair. That you can be a good person and still be singled out and ridiculed for things beyond your control, because certain people have a need to boost themselves by tearing down others perceived to be different or not their equal. Laurel, or the rest of the troop for that matter, did not have much experience interacting with Caucasians, “when you lived in the south suburbs of Atlanta, it was easy to forget about whites” (40). Their only interaction with them took place when they went downtown to “Rich’s to go clothes shopping, everyone had seen white girls and their mothers coo-cooing over dresses” (40). Without their own experiences, the only reason for Laurel’s troop to be angered by the presence of Troop 909 was the color of their skin, “the ten white girls behind us – invaders, Arnetta would later call them” (40) or the lessons gleaned from others. As the story progresses to its climax, Laurel is standing guard awaiting the signal to join in, when she hears one of the members from Troop 909 say, “NO. That did not happen” (47) in reference to using the racial slur. Upon entering the restroom the scene that was unfolding was not what was expected. The girls slowly came to the realization that Troop 909 was made up of “delayed learners” (49) and not a group of pretentious white girls with their sleeping bags “chromatized with Disney characters” (38). This discovery caused a change of heart for most of the girls of Laurel’s troop, including one of the primary antagonist’s Octavia. One couldn’t say that Octavia had a complete change of heart as on the bus ride home, she says, “Why did we have to get stuck at a camp with retarded girls?” (50). Her statement reflects that a lesson was not learned by her, that the only reason she chose to back away from the plan was because of their disability. While choosing not to beat up disabled kids is a commendable trait, the inability to see that those comments are just as prejudice and hurtful as ones based on race show the lack of growth of her and the others who agreed. However, our protagonist shows her growth after she finishes telling the story of her Father’s interaction with the Mennonites, she comes to her own realization, “I now understand what he meant, and why he did it, though I didn’t like it. When you’ve been made to feel bad for so long, you jump at the chance to do it to others” (51). Neither disability nor race is chosen by the individual and to ridicule or consider them as lesser beings is a learned behavior not innate. Being on the other side of the oppression and unreasonable hatred provided her with this epiphany.
In “Brownies,” Packer’s use of a Brownie troop to portray the effects societal prejudices have on children is a powerful tool. Her utilization of a primary and secondary setting to provide the characters’ with opportunity and misguided justification for their actions is an effective way of wielding this tool. It is hard to fathom that a group of young girls, who should have nothing more to worry about than homework and which television show to watch, would behave in such a manner if they had not been influenced by their family members, or lived in an area that was not segregated for socioeconomic reasons.

Work Cited
Packer, Z. “Brownies.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Writing. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 7th Compact Ed. New York: Longman, 2013. 38 – 51. Print.