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Racial segregation in 1930
Racial segregation in 1930
Segregation of black and whites in america in the 1930s
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In the novel A Raisin In The Sun, Lorraine Hansberry brings in multiple characters for brief periods. Each character impacts the story in his or her own specific way. In Hansberry’s realistic fiction novel, she allows the reader to experience what it is like to live in a time period where African Americans and Whites are not considered equals. She gives in depth scenarios, showing what it is truly like to be an African American in Chicago during the 1950’s. The characters in the story experience a multitude of issues involving society, culture, and family.
The Younger’s are a family filled with headstrong characters, who break society 's barriers. Bennie is one of the few women who want to a doctor, which is not common at this time. Most people tell her that she should just become a nurse like most women and save her family money by not going to medical school. However, Bennie knows what she wants to do and will not let people stop her. A women is filled with strength when she adjust to many things in life and has overcome more (22).
Her work to protect the rights of African Americans was her most important role in this time period. She was also a very well known novelist who took an interest in writing plays. Hurston became acquainted with Langston Hughes, another African American author of the Harlem Renaissance. Hurston and Hughes became good friends and Hurston later began to develop feeling for Hughes. They agreed to collaborate and write a play together.
During the 1920s, there was a period that was called the Harlem Renaissance, during which African Americans got the opportunity to be creative and express themselves through music and art. Langston Hughes and Louis Armstrong were a few of the famous people who came from this period in the 1920s. Another famous person that came out of the Harlem Renaissance was Zora Neale Hurston, a multi-talented African American woman who wrote stories that described the life and struggles of the 1920s through the stories she wrote. Hurston was an American writer, who was able to connect to the hearts of most people from all kinds of different races and religions during the period. Even today, her readers still feel the connection Hurston was trying to make
(Hansberry 197-198). Lena’s trying to tell Walter that money does not determine a
Research Paper: Rosa Parks Rosa Parks is an African American that grew up in one of many segregated cities, Montgomery, Alabama. Being the “First Lady of Civil Rights”, she had many opinions on the daily life of African Americans. But born in Tuskegee, Alabama on February 4th, 1913. She stood up for what she believed was right, and succeeded. Due to her courage, what she did to make history, and her race, Rosa Parks made a statement in the Civil Rights Movement.
After a visit from Karl Lindner, the family learned that the white neighbors were willing to do whatever it may take to keep the Younger 's from moving in. However, little did the family know, it would be more than simply offering to buy the house back. During the 1950s and sixties, there was no limit to what white people would do to stop integration. Lorraine Hansberry 's own situation demonstrated this. Mobs surrounded the home and pelted the children with spit and curses (Hansberry 1215).
Gender Expectations in Different Cultures “Women are supposed to cook and do house chores… Women should be responsible for raising children… Men should tell women what they should do… Men are superior than women.” Gender expectations are evident in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun and the society in Korea. Due to their different culture and lifestyle, The Youngers, the African American family, in A Raisin in the Sun have gender expectations that are different from the those in Korea.
Introduction Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” led a great quest for the Younger household. Raisin is set in subsidized housing in Southside Chicago, in which three Black female relatives live and interact with their brother, husband, and son Walter. African Americans were frowned upon before the writing of “A Raisin in the Sun”. However, it her notorious story provided individuals of multiple races new hope for life. In 2006, Diana Adesola Mafe provided the world with her opinion of “A Raisin in the Sun”.
As a civil rights activist, Stokely Carmichael once said, “We are told,” If you work hard, you’ll succeed”- but if that were true, black people would own the country. We are oppressed because we are black- not because we are ignorant, not because we are lazy, not because we are stupid, but because we are black!” This quote is still relevant even to this day, blacks are still considered a minority and they get treated differently simply because of the color of their skin. People continue to treat others by the color of their skin rather than their character. In Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun, the interaction between the themes of race and dreams demonstrates that your race can affect the dreams that you have and what you choose to do about it.
Hughes cast off the influences of white poets and and used blues and jazz to write his poems. Claude Mckay urged African Americans to stand up for their rights in his work. Jean Toomer wrote plays,short stories, and poems to capture the spirit of his times. Zora Neale Hurston was noticed quickly with her moving novel, “THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD”.
First off we can start off with the famous poet Langston Hughes who was not only a poet but he was a social activist, fiction writer, and playwright. We have Ma Rainey who was influential in the Harlem Renaissance period as she was an important figure in the poetry blues. She was one of the early professional poets of the blues. She not only dealt with problems of race discrimination but also gender discrimination. Langston Hughes promoted equality and condemned racism through his poems and specific writing which ultimately helped in the celebration of Black
Hansberry’s drama draws on her own experiences growing up in segregated Chicago, for example, redlining was often used in Chicago to discriminate against [colored people] who were moving into new neighborhoods. “Redlining is the practice of denying key services (like home loans and insurance) or increasing their costs for residents in a defined geographical area... It was almost exclusively a tool to force blacks (and other minorities) into particular geographic areas. ”(Jamelle Bouie, How We Built the Ghettos, page 1). This ties to Hansberry’s play, a Raisin in the Sun, by the Younger family lived in a very cramped and poor area.
Chicago served as a home to numerous walks of life in the 1950’s, and much of the differences in realities were based on differences in race and people’s opinions of segregation. Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun is based off of real life experiences, and it authentically tells the story of an african american family that strives for equality and The American Dream. Walter Younger, the father of the family, battles with deferred dreams of his own and for his family. Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun and Nina Simone’s song “I Wish I knew How It Would Feel to Be Free” both portray Walter’s emotions throughout his daily struggles with his family as they dealt with segregation and destitution. Money was a large contributor
Biography/Context: Langston Hughes (1902-1967) is widely considered as one of the most successful African-American poets of all time. He was also a columnist, playwright, novelist, and social activist for African-American rights. Consequently, Hughes wrote all sorts of literature about 20th century African-Americans living in Harlem--a major black residential within the Manhattan borough of New York City--and soon became an extremely influential figure in the Harlem Renaissance, which was the rebirth movement of African-American culture in the arts during the 1920s. Hughes also had great admiration for music, and was inspired by a variety of genres/musicians such as boogie, Bach, jazz, and blues. His special love for blues music caused
