A Raisin in the Sun Lorraine Hansberry

Introduction

Background

Discussion Starters

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A Raisin in the Sun Lorraine Hansberry

A Raisin in the Sun: Introduction

The Youngers are not one big happy family.

A Raisin in the Sun: Introduction

Mama does not understand how her children turned out the way they did.

A Raisin in the Sun: Introduction

Walter wants things that no one else believes he can have.

And Beneatha doesn’t know what she wants—except to be different.

A Raisin in the Sun: Introduction

Ruth, Walter’s wife, doesn’t know why her husband, is so angry, or what she can do to make things better.

Travis, their son, only wants a little money for school.

A Raisin in the Sun: Introduction

Their apartment is too old and small, and they never seem to have enough money.

A Raisin in the Sun: Introduction

But one day the Youngers get a check for ten thousand dollars in the mail.

A Raisin in the Sun: Introduction

Not surprisingly, they all have different ideas on what they should do with the money.

Will the decision they make save the family or destroy it?

A Raisin in the Sun: Background

The Youngers live on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s.

A Raisin in the Sun: Background

In the 1950s, African Americans faced a lot of discrimination.

Racially motivated lynchings, bombings, and fires were not uncommon.

A Raisin in the Sun: Background

In 1949, New Jersey and Connecticut became the first states to outlaw segregation of public places.

In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional.

But that did not mean that states and cities

enforced desegregation rulings.

A Raisin in the Sun: Background

African Americans faced discrimination in housing: White people living in certain neighborhoods all agreed not to sell their homes to African Americans.

A Raisin in the Sun: Background

Because of segregation and discrimination, African Americans often had to work in low-paying jobs.

For example, in the play, Walter is a chauffeur and Ruth cleans houses.

A Raisin in the Sun: Background

The 1950s was also a time when African Americans began to come together to fight for their civil rights.

A Raisin in the Sun: Background

African Americans were also beginning to find ways to celebrate their unique identity and their African heritage.

A Raisin in the Sun: Discussion Starters

Discuss (1)

What would happen if you got ten thousand in the mail? What would you want to do with it?

• What do you think your family would want to do with it?

• Do you think you would all agree? Why or why not?

A Raisin in the Sun: Discussion Starters

Discuss (2)

• Have you ever experienced discrimination? How so? How did you react?

• What do you think you would do if someone tried to tell you that you could not live in his or her neighborhood?