Only in the final story, "Doris is Coming", set in the early 1960s, does Packer broach the issue of civil rights. In another story, a troop of Brownies on a summer camp contrive to feel offended by a neighbouring white group, until they discover that their "enemies" are borderline retarded. The father is there because he thinks it a likely market for the tropical birds he's trying to flog, the son is bullied into helping. "The Ant of the Self", ostensibly about the million-man march in Washington, focuses on a father and son. Yet each story has a universal, human dimension that subtly transcends the immediate subject. The eight short stories in this, Z Z Packer's debut volume, are about "Negroes", often from the Deep South, and there is many a racial and sexual confrontation. There may be change from the younger generation providing support, and forcing increased action from institutions to decrease the gaps (Anderson).She sounds like a cross between a grizzled Seventies rock trio and an Australian media mogul, she is a black writer (born in Chicago, raised in Atlanta) who sidesteps African-Americancentricity, and she has, on the strength of Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, won a $250,000 advance for her first novel. Black students are constantly faced with a lack of understanding from those in power, who are supposed to be there to support them (Lawton). Universities are expensive and create a major roadblock for anyone from a lower class (Aloud 5). It is a combination of our subjective identities and the powers given to them from institutions that continue the subdivision of people (Wallis 611).ĭina finds no resolution at the end of the story, a reflection of that the issues of identity, inclusion, race, class, and gender at liberal universities are still a major concern today. The major classification of being a member of a specific race is not enough to bring us together, we must also consider the cross-class identities (Wallis 614). Dina doesn’t “understand the black people at Yale” and believes there is “something pitiful in how cool they were” implying that even though they’re all black there’s a huge difference between them. While in the cafeteria different races sit together, and even though Dina is black, the black students giver her “a long, hard stare” revealing that we are not only defined by our race, but also subdivided by our class, creating even greater chasms over subjective identities. While liberal universities are proud to talk about diversity, inclusion, and other postmodern liberal views they are lacking in the practices and follow-through leading to increased marginalization (Wallis 613). If Dina were a white, wealthy, male student would this have happened? Most likely not. The unannounced visits from the female counselors “Every other day, right before dinnertime” further details the non-liberal actions of the institution. being a member of a specific race is not enough to bring us together, we must also consider the cross-class identities."Īfter an orientation game of picking an inanimate object to be, Dina, choosing a “revolver”, is referred to psychiatric counseling, weekly meetings with the Dean, and her own room revealing that “liberal” universities are not, in fact, liberal. “As a person of color, you shouldn’t have to fit into any white, patriarchal system.” The counselor has little understanding of what it’s like to be a person of color, let alone what it’s like to have to fit into any system because she is, and always has been, a member of the ruling class – white (Wallis 615), which makes starting the story off with the dichotomy between races and their power a strong comparison of our stories from birth. The story begins with a counselor trying to be inclusive by referring to Dina as “sister” suggesting that race and class are major issues controlled by those in power and start at the beginning of our own stories. An important theme of “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere” is the underlying struggle of authority, the role of power and how institutions perpetuate ignorance in diversity rather than promoting inclusion through commonality. In trying to find her identity, Dina, a highly analytical and intelligent black woman, constantly struggles with race, class, gender, and sexual orientation and their role in inclusion at Yale revealing that the common achievement of attending this liberal university is not enough to overcome traditional prejudice. “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere,” by ZZ Packer is about the struggles of finding identity and the difficulties of inclusion while attending liberal universities in the postmodern world.
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