A Raisin In The Sun Racism Essay

Another theme and issue that arrives from the play A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, is racism. During the 1950’s blacks and whites were segregated. The house the Younger’s purchased was in the Clybourne Park neighborhood, an all white neighborhood. When Lena told the family they were moving to Clybourne Park they stood with amazement. “Mama, there ain’t no colored people in Clybourne Park” (p.734). The family heard of other colored families’ houses being set on fire in this neighborhood, they were concerned that the same thing would happen to them.

Throughout history in America there has always been the idea of racism. When Americans think of racism, they usually think of slavery and that racism is no longer a problem in America. However, this is not the case. Racism is still very apparent in America. It is true that since the end of slavery, the U.S. has made great strides towards becoming a less racist country. In reality, racism will never be extinct. In today’s society, all American citizens of all races have the same rights as one another, yet there is still racism. Racism can be linked directly to stereotypical mindsets of certain groups of people. It is human nature to make conclusions about other people, this is what leads to racism. Today’s racism is not limited to whites

A Raisin in the Sun skillfully exemplifies many aspects of ‘black’ culture, especially how different ‘black archetypes’ may make different decisions based on how they see race and themselves within a culture. This is impertinent as a plot device in the play, and in the culture itself which the play is expressing. Black men at the time were forced to consider themselves into a certain way both for themselves and their families, and this play show’s how that unnecessary consideration can affect their decision making and overall desires. There are three ‘black man’ archetypes given in the play; Walter, George Murchison, and Asagai, and they are all similar in the fact that they are black men, but differ in how they believe black men should act, especially when it comes to family and heritage.

Lindner, a white person and a representative of the Clybourne Park Improvement Association delineates the racial prejudice possessed by the white people of his community through his actions. He uses the non-violent tactics persuading the Younger family in a polite way so they do not move to his society of white people only. As he starts explaining about the purpose of the association, he uses the language style which could be interpreted in two ways so that he does not sound rude to the family, since he wants them to agree to his terms. He clearly states that the association exists to solve “special community problems” which is indeed termed for Younger’s move into the Clybourne society, which is a symbol of racial hatred,however, keeping it confusing for the family. In addition, he uses “brotherhood” as rather than coming to the straight point of not wanting the Younger family to move into the Clybourne society, he states, “Most of the trouble exists because people just don’t sit down and talk to each other” (116). He does not openly states his clear intension but builds upon his talk point by point convincing the Younger family to an extent that he is just thinking about both the communities. After all the convincing, double meaning statements, he lays down the intension of the white people living in his community about not wanting a colored family to live with them and further, offers them the money gathered by the collective effort of the society to not move into the society, which is even more than the money mama had paid to buy the house, and calls it a “financial gain” to the family. This statement clearly shows how Mr. Lindner was only concerned about the white people of his community and not the Younger family’s

Popular media allow for the general public to be able to properly digest the matters of racial prejudice that are prevalent in our society. There are various ways that racial prejudices are exposed through actions and the structures in society that stems from the perceptions that race is this biological hierarchical supremacy. Additionally, these race classifications that are made by those in power has structured society in a way that puts some in advantage and many at a disadvantage that has continued into modern society. These are disadvantages are revealed through such things as microagressions and socioeconomic structures that favored and continues to favor the “dominant” classes. These matters can be best expressed through personal experiences relating to experienced prejudice, such as Lorraine Hansberry conveying artistically her experience with racial housing issues in Chicago. In her play, The Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry reveals through the Younger family, such issues as community acceptance, lost dreams, and racial discrimination on an economic level. Bruce Norris’s play, Clybourne Park, considers these issues as well as he expands on Hansberry’s world in his personal adaptation of The Raisin in the Sun’s primary plot point. Through experiences shared in the Younger’s future home, Norris explores privilege, systematic racism, white flight, community, and gentrification. Through reference and analysis of Raisin in the Sun and then of Clybourne Park, followed by

A Raisin in the Sun is play written about a family in the 1950’s, and the focus of the play is how racism affects that family. The family in the play tries to buy a house in a white neighborhood, and they have to deal with discriminatory housing practices and the threat of racial violence. A Raisin in the Sun is relevant today because a lot of the insights it makes about racism are still debated over today. One of the issues it tackles is racial violence. In the play, the family deals with the threat of racial violence from people who don’t want them to move into their new house. Today, many feel that racial violence is being done by the police. The story also deals with the family’s struggles to buy a house and the abuse they face for

Though there was a heightened sense of tension over civil rights in the late 1950s when A Raisin in the Sun was written, racial inequality is still a problem today. It affects minorities of every age and dynamic, in more ways than one. Though nowadays it may go unnoticed, race in every aspect alters the way African-Americans think, behave, and react as human beings. This is shown in many ways in the play as we watch the characters interact. We see big ideas, failures, and family values through the eyes of a disadvantaged group during an unfortunate time in history. As Martin Luther King said, Blacks are “...harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what

African-Americans have experienced racism since the 1600s and throughout American history. However, not many books have been able to display the ethnic ignorance that white people have towards blacks. One of the more successful stories is A Raisin in the Sun shares a compelling story about an African-American family during the 1900s and offers many themes about social class and race. In A Raisin in the Sun, a negative legacy is left on modern drama due to the many examples of poverty and the message of money in the novel; though some people may believe that the play was an accurate depiction of the African-American lifestyle and their culture, they are wrong to believe this impractical belief because it leads to many white people assuming

Anne was immediately confused by their presence because they seemed to be just like her except for skin color. On one occasion all the children were playing together in the lobby of a movie theater. Anne was with some local white children playing, but when it was time to enter the movie lobby the white children went in one direction and Anne went in after her friends. Her disapproving mother quickly stopped Anne and they left the theater. Before this instance Anne had never considered the coincidence that all the white children watched the movie from the bottom terrace and all the African America children from the top terrace. While thinking about the difference Anne realized that the bottom terrace and side entrance was much more luxurious than the raggedy top terrace, where she and her mother usually sat (38-2). After this the difference in skin color became much more apparent to her in everyday life. Anne was motivated to find the answers as to why she was treated differently because of the color of her skin.

Throughout this course we have learned about many things, one in particular would be Racism. We have learned about many different types of racism along with examples of racism. Before I go into specific examples of racism that I have learn about in this class, I will first define and explain the differences between racism, prejudice or also known as bias, discrimination, race, and racist so there 's a clear understanding of why I picked the specific examples. The definition of racism that we learned in class would be an “Institutionalized system with disproportionate unjust outcomes for a particular race”. Prejudice or also known as bias was defined as “A negative feeling, opinion, or attitude toward a certain category or people” this would be an feeling with no action acted upon, where discrimination is defined as “Action or inaction toward a category of people” which would be acting on the negative feelings or opinions of a certain group. The definition for race is a “Social construct, but a lived reality” while a racist is “Discrimination based on the category of race”. (Disadvantage privilege notes, 2016)

Mama is also having to difficulties because of race,she is also struggling because of race . Mama is the mother of Walter and Beneatha, grandma of Travis and mother in law of Ruth. Mama has a plant that represent or symbolizes the younger family and she loves that plant a lot. One quote that shows that she is having trouble because of race, is “ The house they put up for colored in them areas way out all seem to cost twice as much as other houses . I did the best I could ’’ ( Hansberry 93 ). Mama means that in the black neighborhood they would have to pay even more than they payed in the white neighborhood. Also that people don’t want to mix blacks and whites together. Mama didn’t want to waste a lot of money so she bought it where the whites live so the don’t wasted a lot, they expect for dark skin people to pay more than whites should pay. Another quote that I found that relates to race is “ I see ... him … night after night … come in … and look at that rug … and then look at me … the red showing in his eyes … the veins moving in his head … I seen him grow thin and old before he was forty … working and working and working like somebody’s old horse … killing himself … and you you give it all away in one day ”( Hansberry 129 ). Mama is trying to say that in that time there was even less opportunities especially to a dark skin person like big Walter but big Walter did whatever he could to provide for his family even if it takes everything. Also

At most times, the American Dream resembles an ideological puzzle more than a fully realizable image. Within the confines of her fantastical, theatrical world Lorraine Hansberry attempts to fit a few of these pieces together and, in the process, ends up showing exactly how everything doesn't just snap-together all nicely. The problems in her play, A Raisin In The Sun, deal primarily with the basic nature of humans and their respected struggle's to "make it" in America.

In the play A Raisin in the Sun written by Lorraine Hansberry, a story about an African American family living in Chicago. The book illustrates what the daily problems of an average black family had to deal with while living in America in the 1950s and their struggle of overcoming obstacles to reach their “dream”. Hansberry use this novel to address topics such as racism, racial inequality, and racial discrimination. In 1954, many people during that time supported segregation. People perceived whites and blacks completely different and people wanted them to be separate. Everywhere in the south had “whites only” or “colored”, and many wanted to keep it that way. History will always repeat itself and people are not

When looking at the origins of African-American Dramas specifically in Mulatto, Native Son, A Raisin in the Sun, Funnyhouse of a Negro, Great Goodness of Life, and Dutchman, the emotions of all these characters created the sense that everyone in this time were still searching for their identity. Each character in the plays had to overcome difficulties relating to their skin color, thus causing either confusion or confidence in their search for what defines them as their self. It created internal conflicts and they often blamed society for specific expectations and stereotypes. How the characters decided to express their feelings in emotions demonstrates a sense of realism and how they viewed themselves. In each play, we are able to see how the characters deal with the searching of their identity through various emotions and internal conflicts through their life choices.

Race is a subject that dominates our culture, our history, our elections and our lives. Without it life would never be the same. Although some believe that racism (to an extent) doesn't exist anymore. However, they are wrong. The same racism that is shown through Karl Linder and George Murchison in A Raisin in the Sun- is still shown today- in our world in things such as: the travel ban/Muslim ban, and behind the scenes in soccer.