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Theme Of Discrimination In A Raisin In The Sun

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Discrimination

Through the years from Martin Luther King Junior’s time to today, we believe that we have worked to give everyone equal rights. Discrimination is seen as a thing of the past, however, in the book A Raisin In The Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, A family of low class African Americans are harshly discriminated against. The family, The Youngers, experience hard times living in a small apartment with a low income. The Youngers wait for a check of $10,000 to arrive at their house from their insurance since Big Walter passed away. Each family member has a different idea of what they want to do with the money, but the final decision is up to Lena Younger as the wife of Big Walter. In the end, Lena buys a house in an all white community …show more content…

A good example of her feeling toward her race is the two men she is dating. After Beneatha meets up with Asagai, George and Beneatha argue about their opinions of their culture. George comes to pick up Beneatha when she is wearing a traditional African robe and Hansberry writes, “GEORGE: (To Beneatha) Look honey, we’re going to the theatre-we’re not going to be in it… so go change, huh? (BENEATHA looks at him and slowly, ceremoniously, lifts her hands and pulls off the headdress. Her hair is close-cropped and straightened. GEORGE freezes mid-sentence and Ruth’s eyes all but fan out of her head)” (Hansberry 80). This quote shows George’s view on traditional African culture. George is an African American that Beneatha calls an “assimilationist Negroe” (Hansberry 81). The fact that they are going to the theatre which was expensive shows that he is rich. He finds Beneatha’s robe to be more of a costume than something she would wear to show her culture. He wants her to change which shows that he may be controlling and rude to Beneatha. Beneatha feels discriminated against because George does not love her for who she is since he wants her to blend in with the other white people at the theatre. The stage directions show that Beneatha is proud of who she is since she stops straightening her hair and she wears it in a typical African hairstyle.

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