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African American Strife In A Raisin In The Sun And The Civil Rights Era

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African American Strife Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun and the motown music of the Civil Rights era demonstrate the struggles African Americans faced during segregation. Both of these works explore ideas of perseverance, searching for freedom, and the longing for respect that many encountered. Mama relates to Mahalia Jackson’s song “We Shall Overcome” because of her religious perseverance and hope for the future of her and her family. One line from her song reads, “The Lord will see us through someday; oh, deep in my heart, I do believe, we shall overcome someday.” This line sounds exactly like something Mama would say. She is a very religious lady who believes God has a plan for their lives. While encouraging Beneatha she says, “Course you going to be a doctor, honey, God willing” (50). Mama realizes that God is the one who really controls their lives, and in the end it comes down to whether he wants Beneatha to be a doctor or not. When Beneatha replies by saying God has no control over it and He simply does not need to be recognized in her choice, Mama becomes heated. She forces Beneatha to say, “In my mother’s house there is still God” (51). We see that Mama has an exceptionally high amount of respect for God in her life. Another line …show more content…

Many struggled with perseverance, searching for freedom, and longing for respect. Overall, we see a lot of struggle happening in the Younger family. Mama lives each day trying to make the family work and trying to hold them together. Beneatha is trying to find where she belongs in a world of inequality and different influences. Ruth is trying to do her best while not gaining the respect she deserves. They are all fighting hard for what is most important to them and we see the strength each one had to have while living in a time of segregation and

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