Racial Discrimination in 'A Raisin in the Sun'

558 Words2 Pages

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a dramatic play written in 1959. The play is about an African American family that lives in the Chicago South Side in the 1950’s. Hansberry shows the struggles and difficulties that the family encounters due to discrimination. Inspired by her personal experience with discrimination, she uses the characters of the play, A Raisin In The Sun, to show how this issue affects families.
Hansberry faces housing discrimination due to her race, which affects her family. According to Susan Chenelle and Audrey Fisch from the New York Times, her father Carl Hansberry got a house for his family in the south side of Chicago in the 1930’s (Chenelle & Fisch, 2014). At that time there was a racially restrictive covenant that protected houses against being bought or occupied by African Americans. Therefore, this family was evicted by law. He sued and the case went to the Supreme Court around 1940, but he did not win because of the constitutionality of racially restrictive covenants. Luckily in 1948, the court found that this covenant is discrimi...

Show More
Related

  • Lorraine Hansbury's A Raisin in the Sun: Opening the Eyes of America to Segregation and Inequality

    1359 Words  | 3 Pages

    Though there is realism within her work, the idealism is never far away at all. Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun allows one to see that progress is made through an idealistic view of the world and that hope is the root of many changes people search for in life. It was not uncommon for African Americans to have a realistic view of the world during the beginning of the 1900s. Segregation played a major role in shaping the century.

    Read More

  • How is Racism used in A Raisin in the Sun

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    How is Racism in A Raisin in the Sun. In the book there is a lot of racism that made them people separate from each other. Their was nothing that made the people be together but work. This was a big problem and still is because people treat others by their race. Racism will always exist wile people think in different ways it may change in one of the days if people change their minds. Racism isn’t only about black people but even people from different continents or with different religions. In the book A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry’s the Youngers suffered from many thing. The thing that will be mentioned are how are black people treated what things did they suffer from and how was their society like.

    Read More

  • The American Dream in A Raisin in the Sun

    1195 Words  | 3 Pages

    A Raisin in the Sun is a play written by Lorraine Hansberry. The primary focus of the play is the American Dream. The American Dream is one’s conception of a better life. Each of the main characters in the play has their own idea of what they consider to be a better life. A Raisin in the Sun emphasizes the importance of dreams regardless of the various oppressive struggles of life.

    Read More

  • Free Essays - A Raisin in the Sun

    1704 Words  | 4 Pages

    “A Raisin in the Sun” is set at in an area where racism was still occurring.  Blacks were no longer separated but they were still facing many racial problems. The black Younger family faced these problems throughout the play.  The entire family was affected in their own way.  The family has big dreams and hope to make more of their poor lives.  Walter, the main character, is forced to deal with most of the issues himself.  Ruth, his wife, and Travis, his ten-year-old son, really don’t have say in matters that he sets his mind to.  Beneatha, his sister tries to get her word in but is often ignored.  Lena (Mama) is Walter’s mother and is very concerned about her family.  She tries to keep things held together despite all of the happenings.  Mama’s husband had just recently died so times seemed to be even harder.  They all live in a small apartment when living space is very confined (Hansberry 1731).  They all have dreams in which they are trying to obtain, but other members of the family seem to hold back each other from obtaining them (Decker).

    Read More

  • An Overview of 'A Raisin in the Sun'

    1747 Words  | 4 Pages

    A Raisin in the Sun The creativity of Hansberry played a crucial role in the development of African-American drama since the Second World War. A Raisin in the Sun was the first play by an African-American author to be set on Broadway and was honored by the circle of New York theater critics. Drama of A Raisin in the Sun (1959) brought Hansberry to the Society of New York Critics Award as the best play of the year. A Raisin in the Sun shows the life of an ordinary African-American family who dreams of happiness and their desire to achieve their dream.

    Read More

  • Generational Differences In A Raisin In The Sun

    782 Words  | 2 Pages

    Differences in generations can cause people to have different viewpoints in life. A Raisin In The Sun is a play set in the 1950s written by Lorraine Hansberry. The Youngers are a black family who lives in a cramped apartment in the South Side of Chicago. When Mama receives a check of insurance money, members of the family are divided in their own hopes of what it will be used for. Mama, Ruth, and Beneatha are the three women of the Younger household and their generational differences clearly show through their actions. The difference between generations is why Mama is the most devout, Ruth is an agreeable person, and Beneatha is outspoken and has modern views.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Conflict In A Raisin In The Sun

    2530 Words  | 6 Pages

    Lorraine Hansberry was born on May 19, 1930, in Chicago, IL. She was the youngest of four children. Hansberry was the first black woman to write a play performed on Broadway. She attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she dropped out after two years. She later, moved to New York City and attended the New School. In 1951, she joined the staff of the black newspaper Freedom. Hansberry married Robert Nemiroff on June 20, 1953. In 1959, she wrote “A Raisin in the Sun” and she was the fifth woman to receive the New York Drama Critics Circle award for Best Play. Hansberry died of pancreas cancer on January 12, 1965.

    Read More

  • Racism and the American Dream in Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun

    1327 Words  | 3 Pages

    A Raisin in the Sun is written by a famous African- American play write, Lorraine Hansberry, in 1959. It was a first play written by a black woman and directed by a black man, Lloyd Richards, on Broadway in New York. The story of A Raisin in the Sun is based on Lorraine Hansberry’s own early life experiences, from which she and her whole family had to suffer, in Chicago. Hansberry’s father, Carol Hansberry, also fought a legal battle against a racial restrictive covenant that attempted to stop African- American families from moving in to white neighborhoods. He also made the history by moving his family to the white section of Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood in 1938. The struggle of Lorraine Hansberry’s family inspired her to write the play. The title of the play comes from Langston Hughes’s poem which compares a dream deferred too long to a raisin rotting in the sun. A Raisin in the Sun deals with the fact that family’s and individual’s dreams and inspirations for a better life are not confined to their race, but can be identified with by people with all back grounds.

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Conformity And Rebellion In 'A Raisin In The Sun'

    748 Words  | 2 Pages

    A Raisin in the Sun is a play set in the south side of Chicago during the 1950s. During this time the civil rights movement was happening and racial tension was at a high. Many African

    Read More

  • Portrayal of an African-American Family in Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansburry

    1151 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... are African-American and redlining is present, which has created exclusion zones, community areas, prevents black people from bank loans and insurance and certain areas are white-only.

    Read More

  • Free Essays - A Raisin in the Sun

    1526 Words  | 4 Pages

    It becomes obvious to the reader that the racial tension Hansberry experienced growing up reflected on the way her literature is written.  Moss and Wilson state that, “Lorraine Hansberry’s South Side childhood, particularly her father’s battle to move into a white neighborhood, provided the background for the events in the play” (314).  Hansberry experienced many of the situations she placed the Younger family at first hand.  Hansberry’s father, Carl Hansberry, was put in a similar circumstance when he moved his family into a predominately white community at the opposition of the white neighbors.  He eventually won a civil rights case on discrimination.  Speaking of the United States, Adler states, “A Raisin in the Sun is a moving drama about securing one’s dignity within a system that discriminates against, even enslaves, its racial minorities” (824).

    Read More

  • An Analysis of A Raisin In the Sun

    1048 Words  | 3 Pages

    An Analysis of A Raisin In the Sun & nbsp;           "A Raisin In The Sun" is a play written by an African-American playwright - Lorraine Hansberry. It was first produced in 1959. Lorraine Hansberry's work is about a black family in the Chicago South Side. the Second World War. The family consisted of Mama(Lena Younger), Walter.

    Read More

  • Walter Lee's Dreams in A Raisin in The Sun

    1409 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun is a play about segregation, triumph, and coping with personal tragedy. Set in Southside Chicago, A Raisin in the Sun focuses on the individual dreams of the Younger family and their personal achievement. The Younger's are an African American family besieged by poverty, personal desires, and the ultimate struggle against the hateful ugliness of racism. Lena Younger, Mama, is the protagonist of the story and the eldest Younger. She dreams of many freedoms, freedom to garden, freedom to raise a societal-viewed equal family, and freedom to live liberated of segregation. Next in succession is Beneatha Younger, Mama's daughter, assimilationist, and one who dreams of aiding people by breaking down barriers to become an African American female doctor. Lastly, is Walter Lee Younger, son of Mama and husband of Ruth. Walter dreams of economic prosperity and desires to become a flourishing businessman. Over the course of Walter's life many things contributed to his desire to become a businessman. First and foremost, Walter's father had a philosophy that no man should have to do labor for another man. Being that Walter Lee was a chauffeur, Big Walter?s philosophy is completely contradicted. Also, in Walter?s past, he had the opportunity to go into the Laundromat business which he chose against. In the long run, he saw this choice was fiscally irresponsible this choice was. In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, Walter Lee's dreams, which are his sole focus, lead to impaired judgement and a means to mend his shattered life.

    Read More

  • Racial Disccrimination in a Raisin in the Sun

    858 Words  | 2 Pages

    The late 1950s was filled with racial discriminations. There was still sections living as well as public signs of Colored and Whites. Blacks and Whites were not for any change or at least not yet. A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Vivian Hansberry, tells a story of a black family that is struggling to gain a middle class acceptance in Chicago. The family of five, one child and four adults live in a tiny apartment that is located in a very poor area. Dreams of owning a business and having money to accomplish goals is two key parts played out throughout the whole play. Walter Younger is determined to have his own business and he will go to ends met to see that dream come true. Financial bridges are crossed and obstacles arise when Walter makes a bad decision regarding money that could have help the family and not only himself, if he would have thought smarter. His pride and dignity are tested throughout the story and he is forced to setup for his family. The Raisin in the Sun helps readers to understand history of racial discrimination and how racial discrimination has an effect on the people in the late 1950s and early 1960s as well as how that has an effect on the characters within the play.

    Read More

  • Oppression in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

    1492 Words  | 3 Pages

    Homologous to plants, humans need certain environmental factors to thrive. When the environment surrounding a person is auxiliary to that person, humans have the ability to grow physically, similar to plants, but also socially and intellectually. This is comparable to the way a plant thrives in its native environment because of the harmony between the plant and its surroundings. However, if someone removes a plant from its native environment and places it in a foreign environment, the environment will suffer because the unfamiliar species is jarring to the harmony of the community. Similarly, an invasive species will dominate and suffocate an environment, leaving no room for native species to grow and thrive. A human environment bears resemblance to this because a poisonous, opposed environment leaves no space for a person to even grow into their own identity, let alone prosper in terms of social and intellectual growth. Observing the notion that an oppressive society does not have the capacity to foster a harmonious, flourishing populous, Lorraine Hansberry unmasks the effect of the oppression of racial, gender, and class groups on the lives of the members of a society in her play A Raisin in the Sun.

    Read More

More about Racial Discrimination in 'A Raisin in the Sun'

Open Document