Race, a Never Ending Problem

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Recommended: Analysis of A Raisin in the sun

Racial inequality has to be one of the top issues in the world; it seems as if it cannot be solved. There are many who fight for racial equality and believe they have won however racism and inequality still exists. Usually the main targets of racial discrimination are the working class African Americans; this issue prevents them from bettering their lives. In A Raisin in the Sun the author, Lorraine Hansberry analyzes the lives of the oppressed younger family; she molds her literature by showing that racism and classism are the reasons why they cannot accomplish their goals. It is understood that this play gives the insinuation that racial equality leads to a better future, which is what the younger family longs for. The characters Walter, Mama, and Beneatha all have dreams and aspirations that are interrupted by the acts of racial discrimination and disrespect because of their social class; in response to this each of them gains empowerment over their oppressors.
Walter Lee Younger is probably the most driven member of the younger family; he is determined to make a better life for his family. He feels that investing in a liquor store will have a good impact on the family, financially. This scheme is concocted due to his envious attitude toward others, mainly upper class Caucasian Americans. He is envious of other men of his age that “have it all” while he’s underprivileged, so he feels like he too can “have it all” he just needs something to help build his fortune. He states, “sometimes when I’m downtown and I pass them cool-quiet-looking restaurants where them white boys are sitting back and talking ‘bout things sitting there turning deals worth millions of dollars sometimes I see guys don’t look much older than me”(I, II). He...

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...n Beneatha is introduced with the assimilationist issue she stands tall and tells George that one should take pride in his heritage and being the type of person he is means that he has conformed to society’s perspective of what a person should be. Lorraine Hansberry has made it clear that racism and classism has tried multiple times to keep the Younger family from achieving their goals. However the characters that were potentially oppressed had some form of empowerment in the end.

Works Cited

Foertsch, Jacqueline. "Against the 'starless midnight of racism and war': African American intellectuals and the antinuclear agenda." Philological Quarterly 88.4 (2009): 407+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 13 May 2014.

Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Drama.6thed. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. Print.

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