"Borwnies"

In my opinion, none of the girls from troop 909 ever said the word they were acused of saying. These girls live in a cultural hegemony, where white America is dominant. Although they live in Atlanta where Laurel compares seeing a white person to seeing a baby pigeon, they are still aware of this hegemony. Since they are aware of it but never around it, the arrival of a troop of white girls will automatically raise defenses. For all the reader knows, this is the first real interraction the girls have had with girls from the society that they know is priveledged. Being at the camp puts both troops on equal ground, and I think girls like Arnetta and Octavia, who are used to being dominant and in control, are going to do whatever they can to prove they are superior. I doubt that any of the 909 girls made such a comment. The girls were just looking for it so they could fight and show who is really the toughest.

I also find it interesting that even though there is a girl with the echolalic disability, which would have been an easy out for the accusing girls, Arnetta still claims it was another girl. But she blames the girl that is the smallest of the bunch. She seems to be trying to pick on the "weakest" of the bunch, which is exactly what she does with the girls in her own troop, like Janice, Laurel and Daphne.