A Raisin In The SunLorraine Hansberry

Marcille Bachman

English 2

Period 2

Thesis

Lorraine Hansberry is trying to show us that, even though there will always be prejudice in this world, it’s important to overcome it and continue to fight against it, as shown in A Raisin In The Sun.

Newspaper/Magazine Article

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/19/politics/obama-zimmerman/index.html?iref=allsearch

African Americans all over America are distressed about the acquittal of George Zimmerman, after he shot and killed black teenager Trayvon Martin last year. They feel that this trial is more about race than it is about justice and what actually happened. They fear that the judicial system exonerated Zimmerman simply because he was a white man, and Martin was black. Barak Obama was even mentioning how he could have been Trayvon Martin 35 years ago, revealing his own fear of the prejudice behind this trial. Many blacks are fearing that this is a prejudice case that was won by the white man simply because of his color, rather than facts. They fear that prejudice is now effecting justice. This article is explaining the fears of the African American people, and it describes their fears of prejudice. Prejudice is the theme I chose for this project, and this article so clearly relates to the theme of prejudice, as even the president of the United States is saying that he’s worried about the bigotry in this case.

Quotes

“LINDNER- Well-you see our community is made up of people who’ve worked hard as the dickens for years to build up that little community. They’re not rich and fancy people; just hard-working, honest people who don’t really have much but those little homes and a dream of the kind of community they want to raise their children in. Now, I don’t say we are perfect and there is a lot wrong in some of the things they want. But you’ve got to admit that a man, right or wrong, has the right to want to have the neighborhood he lives in a certain kind of way. And at the moment the overwhelming majority of our people out there feel that people get along better, take more of a common interest in the life of the community, when they share a common background. I want you to believe me when I tell you that race prejudice simply doesn’t enter into it. It is a matter of the people of Clybourne Park believing, rightly or wrongly, as I say, that for the happiness of all concerned that our Negro families are happier when they live in their own communities.” (Hansberry 117)

Quotes (cont.)

“LINDNER- (Looking around at the hostile faces and reaching and assembling his hat and briefcase) Well-I don’t understand why you people are reacting this way. What do you think you are going to gain by moving into a neighborhood where you just aren’t wanted and where some elements-well-people can get awful worked up when they feel that their whole way of life and everything they’ve ever worked for is threatened.” (Hansberry 119)

Quotes (cont.)

“JOHNSON- I guess y’all seen the news what’s all over the colored paper this week…

“MAMA- No-didn’t get mine yet this week.

“JOHNSON- (Lifting her head and blinking with the spirit of catastrophe) You mean you ain’t read ‘bout them colored people that was bombed out their place there?

(RUTH straightens with concern and takes the paper and reads it. JOHNSON notices her and feeds commentary)

JOHNSON- Ain’t it something how bad these here white folks is getting here in Chicago! Lord, getting so you think you right down in Mississippi! (With a tremendous and rather insincere sense of melodrama) ‘Course I thinks it’s wonderful how our folks keeps on pushing out. You hear some of these Negroes ‘round here talking ‘bout how they don’t go where they ain’t wanted and all that-but not me, honey! (This is a lie) Wilhemenia Othella Johnson goes anywhere, any time she feels like it! (With head movement for emphasis) Yes I do! Why if we left it up to these here crackers, the poor n****** wouldn’t have nothing.” (Hansberry 100)

Quotes (cont.)

“WALTER- And we have decided to move into our house because my father-my father-he earned it for us brick by brick. (MAMA has her eyes closed and is rocking back and forth as though she were in church, with her head nodding the Amen yes) We don’t want to make no trouble for nobody or fight no causes, and we will try to be good neighbors. And that’s all we got to say about that. We don’t want your money.” (Hansberry 148)

((When Walter called Lindner back to the house, originally to take the deal about staying away from Clybourne Park because they’re a black family))

Visual Representation

Visual Representation (cont.)

“The world can be so BLACK and WHITE… Sometimes we just need to blur the lines and find the GRAY in the middle!” That’s the quote that I added to this picture I made, which is supposed to symbolize that, even with the differences in race, we need to look past the colors of a person’s skin and realize that we are all still people. Which is sort of like finding the gray in the middle of black and white. Just find what’s the same about people, rather than the differences, and the world would no longer have to deal with prejudice the way it does now.