A Raisin In The Sun Social Injustice Analysis

This essay will explicate a section of Beryl Satter’s book Family Properties. This section argues that the white population of Chicago took part in restrictive covenants or legally binding contracts that prevented the sale of properties to colored people in an effort to confine Chicago’s colored population to specific sections in the city. The purpose of this paper is to explicate a section of Family Properties through analysis of structure, tone, and imagery. It will then identify how the evidence relate to one another, and possibilities of meaning. Lastly this essay will conclude with summarizing my results and examining how using explication as a textual tool affects my approach to a reading.

The Wechsler family was one strong example of support to the Myers. As both Communist and Socialist the Weschler's believed that everyone should have equal opportunities and rights. As a result, the Wechsler's helped the Myers get a loan for their house and helped them tidy up their home before officially moving in. In the book it says, “Through the grapevine however, Bea and Lew heard of a wealthy philanthropist in New York who might be of help… She agreed to loan the Myers the down payment with no interest” (Kushner 83-84). This quote was taken from the part of the book where Bill and Daisy had gotten rejected from many banks for the loan they needed for their house so instead they got the loan from outside of a bank. The quote shows how the Wechsler helped the Myers in their journey to achieve their American Dream. With the supporters came many protesters, for example the Levitt family, specifically Bill Levitt, made it very difficult for the Myers to achieve their dream. According to the book, Bill Levitt made a policy that made his Levittowns a whites-only community and he wouldn’t allow houses to be sold to anyone not part of the Caucasian race. The policy states, “The tenant agrees not to permit the premises to be used under or occupied by any person other than members of the Caucasian race” (Kushner 43). The quote above was taken directly from William Levitt’s lease to his Levittown homes. This portion of the lease is one example of how the Levitts hindered the Myers chance of achieving their

In the city of Longtown,Ohio,Founded by James Clemens,is a peaceful place where blacks and white did not discriminate each other, or at least it use to be. Now,the people of Longtown are fading from the world and White settlers are buying their land.Longtown was made by James Clemens,a freed slave from the state of Virginia, made this settlement so whites and blacks can live in harmony and peace together,but now that everyone is dying and settlers are buying their land, James’ great grandson,Connor Keiser, is trying to keep the way of life going or in other words Connor Keiser said,” We were the usual Longtown family. We all look different,and we were taught that color didn’t matter.As long as I have anything to do with it,Longtown

In the speech it states “...America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds’.” (King). King is saying that all of them have had promises made to them that have not been fulfilled and how the Negro population has been lied to by America saying that all are created equal and that anything is possible which is not true to them. This connects to A Raisin in the Sun because in the story the Youngers do not have the same opportunities as white people. Walter has to work as a chauffeur for white people and he has bigger dreams than doing this for a job. This is the only opportunity available to him that enables him to provide for the needs of his family though. This would be possible if people were treated equally.

But, there is no telling what will happen down the road. A possibility of what may come to the family is abundance of discrimination from the White Americans. “The only people in the world who are more snobbish than rich white people are rich colored people.” (Pg. 49). The excerpt further explains the comparison of people’s attitudes by the color of their skin. The neighborhood that they are moving to may not accept or view them as equal. “That is just what is wrong with the colored woman in this world.. Don’t understand about building their men up and making’em feel like somebody.” (Pg. 34). This reference analyzes how Walter has no appreciation for his wife. This is apparent because of the comparison he is trying to do with the color of her skin instead of who she assuredly is. Making the decision of moving into this new house could bring up great opportunities for women or not give them equal rights and

Housing was the most serious community problem in Harlem. The Negro's labor dollar was further taken by the steep rental characteristic of the segregated areas where most Negroes lived. Ellison makes this quite clear to the audience as Scofield and Dupre steal coal oil and buckets from the hardware store and set them on fire in the apartment building where they live. They make sure to get everyone to safety before they burn the building down, shouting, "You didn't think I'd do it but there it is. You wouldn't fix it up. Now see how you like it." (Ellison 548). African American's were also treated unfairly in their living quarters. There are more examples of this mistreatment in the book when The Invisible Man awakens to the sound of tenants beating on the pipes, due to no heat, at Mary's apartment building and also the eviction of the elderly couple, the Provo's.

Hansberry's theme is Don’t judge a book by its cover. To illustrate, when the younger family wanted to move into the neighborhood Mr.Lindner remarked “ it’s not a race thing ..Negro families are just happier when they live in their own communities” (2.3.65). Mr. Lindner tries to make it seem like this isn’t a race matter, but why else would he want the youngers to leave?. The Younger family have the money to buy the house so it’s not a money issue.Mr. Lindner uses the fact that they’re black in the situation and that is where the thought that this is a race matter comes from. The Younger family haven’t caused any disturbances so there’s no reason they would have to move, they also have the money so there is no problem, just because they’re black they want to be in a black community? In addition, to the first statement Mr. Lindner also replies to

The era during which a drama is written can altogether change or exemplify certain motives, that if written in another time, would not only be misread but could also possibly be entirely unrecognized. It is during the era of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, that two prominent dramatists, Amiri Baraka and Lorraine Hansberry, sought the perfect opportunity to create plays that brought forth, with earnestness and directness, the great trials faced daily by African-Americans throughout the United States. Through their two protagonist's interactions with a representation of the white race of that time, Walter Lee's handling Mr. Lindner in A Raisin In the Sun, and the oppression of Clay caused by Lula in The Dutchman, the very the

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

Hansberry includes one of the most significant juxtapositions concerning blacks and whites towards the end of the play when Mr. Linder goes to the Younger household. The mere presence Lindner creates a sense of racial prejudice, for he is there to convince the Youngers not to move to Clybourne Park. When talking to the Younger family, Lindner struggles with being straightforward. He tells the Youngers that he is a part of a welcoming committee, and that he is at their home to talk about “what the association calls-(He looks elsewhere)-uh-special community problems” (Hansberry 155). Hansberry’s use of dashes in Lindner’s dialogue shows how he is uncomfortable, and the fact that Lindner is avoiding eye contact with the Younger further emphasizes his incompetence. In addition, Lindner’s use of the word “problem” to describe black presence in a white neighborhood creates a derogatory tone. It connects to the idea many whites had back then, which was the blacks being an inferior race. Hansberry, however, intentionally includes a character like Lindner to prove her point that blacks assimilating towards American culture will only diminish their status even further. When critics read the play, they often wonder about its universality because they

Mr. Lindner is sent by his community to convince the family not to move into the neighborhood. He even goes as far as to offer to buy back the house at twice the cost. Mr. Lindner refers to the Youngers’ as “you people” several times and mentions “some of the instances that have happened in various parts of the city when colored people have moved into certain areas” (1984-1986). Beneatha claims that Mr. Lindner is talking “Brother Hood” and saying “how everybody ought to learn how to sit down and hate each other with good Christian fellowship” (1987). If a white family had bought the house and were meeting with Mr. Lindner for the first time, his choice of words and the tone of the evening would have been very different because blacks were not socially accepted by society during this era. Mr. Lindner tells Walter specifically that he is not being racist when he says “I want you to believe me when I tell you that race prejudice simply does not enter into it” and “That our Negro families are happier when they live in their own communities”, which sounds very racist (1986). Some would say that the way the character is talking is just the way that people talked in the 1950s, and others might say that Mr. Lindner is making racial comments.

Lorraine Hansberry develops the theme that racial discrimination makes it hard to obtain the American Dream through the use of setting. The play takes place in Southside Chicago 1950. During this time the south was segregated by racist Jim Crow Laws. Jim Crow Laws were laws requiring the separation of whites from persons of color. Many African Americans faced unofficial racial barriers in the North. Black and white communities were even segregated from each other. Black and white communities were very different. Buying a house in a black community was different from buying a house in a white community. Black communities were more expensive and were less well-kept, in contrast to white communities being cheaper, very clean, and well-kept. Linder states, “I want you to believe me when I tell you that race prejudice simply doesn’t enter into it. It is a matter of the people of Clybourne Park believing, rightly or wrongly, as I say, that for the happiness of all concerned that our Negro families are happier when they live in their own communities.” Linder is trying to say that they are not trying to be racist but clearly are because they are telling the Younger’s that they can not live there because it is an all white community and blacks have their own communities. Linder offers money for the Younger’s to leave just so that they don’t have any blacks in their all white community. Galens states, “Mama Younger has the money to pay for a house she wants, but people attempt to

Economic and societal poverty are the key forms of poverty highlighted in the three-act play, A Raisin in the Sun. Lorraine Hansberry, the playwright, discusses the hardships of African-Americans attempting to emerge in society in the 1950’s. The play is staged in ways where the audience can grasp the trifles of an African-American family continuously experiencing setbacks whilst attempting to achieve their notion of the “American Dream”. To Walter Lee Younger, his idea of the “American Dream” is that anything is possible for those who have money. Unfortunately, there is a minor problem: Walter Lee Younger is a working-class African-American man who struggles to make ends meet in the Southside of Chicago, Illinois. The family undergoes

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

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.