Racism In 1940s

Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun opened in a New York theater March 11, 1951. This play, although based on Hansberry’s own life and personal experiences was also inspired by Langston Hughes’s poem “Harlem”. Hansberry used this play to tell the story of a 1950’s African American family trying to better themselves. She also used this play to shine a light on the issue of racism that were prominent during this time frame. This highly successful play “ran for 530 performances and was nominated for the 1960 Tony Award for best play”, and has had several adaptations made in its honor(Aurora). Despite the fact that these adaptations were made to equal the original play there are many differences between them and their predecessor.

Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun opened in a New York theater March 11, 1951. This play, although based on Hansberry's own life and personal experiences was also inspired by Langston Hughes's poem "Harlem". Hansberry used this play to tell the story of a 1950's African American family trying to better themselves. She also used this play to shine a light on the issue of racism that was prominent during this time frame. This highly successful play "ran for 530 performances and was nominated for the 1960 Tony Award for best play", and has had several adaptations made in its honor (Aurora). Even though these adaptations were made to equal the original play there are many differences between them and their predecessor.

On August 28th, 1963, over 250,000 people joined Dr. King march at the Lincoln Memorial to hear his speech, “I Have a Dream” Powerful words being heard and documented as a historical event for civil rights. He introduces his speech as the greatest demonstration for freedom in all the United States of America. Dr. King opens with, “The negro still is not free, one-hundred years later the life of the negro is still badly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimation.” Dr. King followed the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. Believing that non-violent protesting was the ultimate weapon against racism.

During the 1900’s, factories had the most available work, though there was some agriculture. Working

The 1930's was a time of change for the blacks of the United States of America. However, this change was not all for the better. The main change for blacks during this period was that many of them migrated to the North, which in turn, caused many other situations, which included

The significance behind Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun was it was the first play made by a black woman to be produced on Broadway. The play was written to create a picture of the lives of a black family struggling everyday to make it in life. The play making different impacts on those who viewed it led to three remakes of the work. 1961 produced the remake with the original cast of the play with the script written by Lorraine Hansberry herself. The next adaptation would be the 1989 version which was written in honor of the 25th anniversary of the original play.

Is racism really deep beneath the ground or are we living in it? Racism has been around before before 1865 but 1865 is when slavery was abolished and in the 1930’s slavery is still a very harmful thing to the blacks. But racism really started to change around the 1960’s, blacks were able to work for Nasa and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was placed. And now the 2000’s, is racism gone or has it just changed form over the years. Racism is still here and is affecting the blacks.

Teenagers who lived on family farms tended to quit school to work on the farm.

For my symposium topic I will be discussing racism and bigotry in the 1940-1960s through literature, versus today. When you read books from 60-80 years ago, you expect to see a lot of differences in terms of the unequal treatment that black people had endured, however it’s not over, and in so many cases, they are still enduring it. Looking at it from a political standpoint, it feels almost as if we are going back in time and that all of the progress we had once made is deteriorating. My working thesis: While the world has vastly changed and evolved, looking at literature from 1940-1960s and comparing it to our present day culture demonstrates that racism and bigotry are unfortunately still very prevalent in our society. My main book sources

In this article there was affect that affected the whole story. This affect had to do with the great depression and racism back in the 1940s. People did not like black people. They would separate them from there color and the blacks had less rights

During the 19th century, racism was an established and widely accepted ideology throughout the Antebellum South. Both Frederick Law Olmsted and John C. Calhoun portray typical racist ideology during the 19th century in Antebellum South. In his travelogue of the South, “A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States; With Remarks on Their Economy”, Olmsted advocated for the free soil movement. On the other hand, Calhoun advocated for slavery in his 1837 speech, “The ‘Positive Good’ of Slavery” before the United States Senate. The free soil movement was an anti-slavery movement that in fact did not advocate for equal rights among blacks and whites, but advocated that free men on free soil was a superior system to traditional slavery. Surprisingly, anti-slavery was much different to abolitionism. The goal of abolitionism was the immediate emancipation of all slaves and the establishment of equal rights among blacks and whites. The goal of anti-slavery was the eventual emancipation of all slaves with the understanding that blacks were inferior to whites. Although both advocated for two distinct social standards for the African American people, both had incorporated within their ideology the racist concept that African Americans and their ancestors were inferior to white Americans.

Following the postwar era , the 20th century marked an atmosphere of a certain spirit of positivity and change that soon flooded the world, hitting impactfully in the United States. The quest for racial equality as well as qender quality began.

Justice is served by those who see the good in humanity. Imagine living in a world where everywhere you go, you are ridiculed by others, being put down, having racial slurs spat at you just because you are different. Racism and discrimination continue to be a significant problem in today’s world, let's backtrack to the 1900’s, where racism was very common. It’s wrong when you are not able to apply for a job or go somewhere because of your race, dealing with each others differences has become a waste of time and has become an ignorant act.(dosomething.org)

Even though it was expected of children to work, some parents did not want to send their children to work. Parents really only sent their children to work for an extra income to help the family out of poverty. Poverty is the main reason that children are sent to work. The following is the definition of poverty, “Poverty is the inability, through lack of income or wealth, to provide decent housing, clothing, health care, nutrition, or education for oneself or one’s family.” (Riggs 1). Because parents were desperate for money they would take their children’s names off of the school list when education became required (Carson 1). Parents would also feel obligated to give their children permission to work and bring in a small amount of money, but much needed funds. It was also an expectation that children could provide a profitable benefit for their families.

Lorraine Hansberry’s Raisin in the Sun is a monumental play in the theatrical world. Produced in 1959, it became the first play written by an African-American woman to hit the stage and was later nominated for several Tony Awards. The play touched many controversial themes of the time including racial discrimination and poverty. The design of Raisin in the Sun, including scenic, costume, lighting, and sound elements, were crucial to developing the plot and emphasizing these themes. All of the elements are vital to the message and audience interpretation of the production, and overall, the Playmakers Repertory Company executed them well.