The Role Of Racism In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

Racism is apparent throughout Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” in which we follow the life of an African-American family in Chicago in the 1950’s, who are trying to move out of the slums through the insurance money that they got from Mr. Young’s death. But this would be become a challenge for them as they are in the midst of a racial segregation in which they were not allowed to have the same rights as their white counterparts. Such as having the ability to obtain the same jobs, education, and being able to purchase the same houses as their white counterparts. This does put African American’s at a disadvantage, as in many cases they are unable to leave the lower class and are continued to look down upon by those that in a higher class them or a white skin color. Furthermore, white people in the 1950’s discriminated against race according to racial discrimination and Class-based bias. Which came from the perspective that “all black migrants were lower skilled, low-income workers who did not fit into

As Lena Younger, Walter mother also feels that blacks are being discriminated against, as they are almost being forced to live in the slums, do the price of houses for blacks out of the slums is so high that many families or people are unable to afford it within their life time. This is seen within the play when Lena says “them houses they put up for colored areas way out all seem to cost twice as much as other houses. I did the best I could” (2.i). Mama is showing how difficult it is for African Americans to move into a house as they are unable to move up no matter how hard they try, due racist laws set up by the whites make it difficult for them to leave the slums. As the laws are being set up to make it as difficult as possible for African American to leave the slums and enter the