African Americans In A Raisin In The Sun By Lorraine Hansberry

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All throughout American history African Americans have been mistreated and had to undergo great lengths to gain the same rights as their fellow citizens. Although there have been many fights for freedom for Americans in history, the two greatest victories for the African American community were being granted freedom from slavery and the civil rights movement. With these two great advancements, African Americans finally gained equal rights. The exhibit on Abraham Lincoln found at the Nevada State Museum and the play “A Raisin in the Sun”, written by Lorraine Hansberry in 1959, share similar qualities in the struggles of African Americans in United States history. For both involved assisting African Americans gain their basic human …show more content…

The five members of the Younger family are sharing a two bedroom apartment in the beginning of the play, due to the low paying jobs offered to African Americans at the time. Walter and Ruth are husband and wife are share one room, and Mama ( Walters mother) and Beneatha (Walters sister) share the other room, while Travis Walters (Walter and Ruth’s son) sleeps on the couch. With the passing of Mama 's husband the family is going to receive a $10,000 dollar insurance check. Each person in the family has a different idea of what the money should be used for. Mama wants to buy a bigger house for the family due to Ruth being pregnant and their current apartment being too small, Walter wants to invest in a liquor store, and Beneatha to use some money to attend to medical school. Although Beneatha going to medical school is not the biggest problem the Younger family faces, it still is prevalent in the fact that at the time females did not commonly become doctors and especially black women. If Beneatha were to have went to medical school, she would have faced discrimination due to being a black female. One of the main problems this family faces is trying to find a new house in a primarily white neighborhood called Clybourne Park. Although they are …show more content…

The Civil war along with Abraham Lincoln 's influence and "A Raisin in the Sun" take place a century after apart, yet both time periods share similarities in the struggles to achieve racial equality for African Americans in the United States. With Lincoln bringing freedom to the slaves in America and Lorraine Hansberry writing directly about racial discrimination and bringing awareness to the Civil Rights movement. The development of equality can be seen from becoming American citizens to being able to eat or own a house near a white person. If it were not for these two great movements the process of equal rights may have never happened in

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