A Raisin in the Sun

by Lorraine Hansberry

A Raisin in the Sun •  a play written by Lorraine Hansberry

•  it debuted on Broadway in 1959

•  title comes from a famous Langston

Hughes poem, “Harlem”

•  story tells a black family's experiences in a

segregated Chicago subdivision in pre-

Civil Rights America

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Jim Crow Laws •  from the 1880s into the 1960s, most American states

enforced segregation or separation of blacks and whites through "Jim Crow" laws

•  Governments could punish people for talking with members of another race.

•  The most common types of laws ordered business owners and public buildings to keep blacks and whites separated.

•  Separate facilities for African Americans (if provided) were always inferior, sometimes absolutely horrific.

•  Many African Americans left the south during The Great Migration to escape strict Jim Crows. Ironically they found similarly limiting segregation up North.

Who Was Jim Crow? •  Jim Crow was not a

person. The name “Jim Crow Laws” was based on a popular song that said racist and stereotypical things about black people

•  The term Jim Crow was used as a racial slur for any black person

•  The term itself is discriminatory

What do you notice in these images depicting the racial segregation of the 1930’s?

The Setting—Chicago

•  Washington Park Subdivision is the name of the historic 3 x 8-city block

subdivision on the South Side of Chicago

•  It was originally an all white neighborhood.

•  From1900-1934, the back pop. in Chicago grew from 30,000 to 236,000.

•  Instead of having this population scattered throughout the city, it was concentrated in two large strips of land. Black residents were forced to stay in these neighborhoods by discriminatory 20-year covenants.

Redlining •  From the 1930s --60s, black people across the country were largely cut out of the legitimate home-mortgage market. •  Chicago whites employed every measure, from “restrictive covenants” to bombings, to keep their neighborhoods white. •  In 1934, Congress created the Federal

Housing Administration. The FHA insured private mortgages, causing a decline in the size of the down payment required to buy a house. But insured mortgagee were not possibilities for most black Chicagoans.

•  The FHA had adopted a system of maps that rated neighborhoods

•  On the maps, green areas, rated “A,” indicated “in demand” neighborhoods

•  Neighborhoods where black people lived were marked red and rated “D” and were usually considered ineligible for FHA backing.

Relining in Practice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NYTZ2oa-5o

Connection to Lorraine Hansberry

•  Hansberry’s father was a wealthy, black real estate broker in segregated Chicago

•  In 1937, he purchased a home in the Washington Park Subdivision –  Washington Park had a restrictive

covenant that said no black person could live in or own a home there.

•  Washington Park fought Hansberry and they went to court in 1937

•  Judge ordered the Hansberrys’ eviction on August 19, 1938.

•  Hansberry appealed to the Supreme Court of Illinois

•  The case of Hansberry, et al vs. Lee, et al goes all the way to the US Supreme Court on October 25, 1940. – The U.S. Supreme Court deems restrictive covenants non-existent

The Chicago Defender Saturday, November 16, 1940

THE PLAY

The Play’s Reception

•  Opened on Broadway on March 11, 1959

•  Cast includes Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil, and

Ruby Dee

•  The New York Drama Critics name it the Best

American Play of 1959

•  Ran for nearly 2 years on Broadway

•  Made into a film starring most of the Broadway

cast in 1961

Main Characters •  Walter Lee Younger - the protagonist of the

play; father and husband •  Ruth Younger - Walter’s wife and Travis’s

mother •  Travis Younger - Walter and Ruth’s sheltered

young son •  Beneatha Younger (“Bennie”) - Mama’s

daughter and Walter’s sister •  Lena Younger (“Mama”) - Walter and

Beneatha’s mother

THE INSPIRATION FOR THE TITLE

Harlem by Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?       Does it dry up       like a raisin in the sun?       Or fester like a sore—       And then run?       Does it stink like rotten meat?       Or crust and sugar over—       like a syrupy sweet?       Maybe it just sags       like a heavy load.       Or does it explode?

The poem to the left was written by black American poet, Langston Hughes. He was one of the most notable poets from the Harlem Renaissance, an era or great black artistic creation in the US from 1920s-1940s. Since the title of our play comes from a line of the poem, it is important we first understand the poem. 1. Read an annotate the poem. Analyze the author’s message. 2. Discuss at your tables. 3. Determine what this may tell us about the play.

PREDICTIONS

Based on what you’ve learned today, what would you predict are the themes and issues in the play?