Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun conveys the struggle of racial discrimination in the early to mid 1900s Chicago, through the Younger family and their pursuit of bettering their housing situation. The play starts with the Younger family living in an undesirable situation. A small, crowded two bedroom apartment in which Travis has to sleep on the couch in the living room, and they have to share a bathroom with their neighbors. The living room is described as having to “accommodate the living of too many people for too many years.” (Pg. 23) and the furniture is referred to as “worn.” (Pg. 23) This family is packed into a space much too close together, and are constantly physically and emotionally bumping into the other members of their family. All of this changes when Mama gets a $10,000 life insurance check after the death of her husband.
It had been Mama’s dream for years to move out of their apartment and into a house where she can have her own garden. “Well, I always wanted me a garden like I used to see sometimes at the back of the houses down home.” (Pg. 53) Mama decides to finally make these dreams a reality and she buys her family a house. Everyone is so excited for the news until Mama tells them where they are going to move- Clybourne Park. Ruth says, “Mama, there ain’t no colored people living in Clybourne Park.” (Pg. 93) Mama responds that the reason she bought the house where she did is because “them houses they put up for colored in them areas way out all seem to cost twice as much as other houses. I did the best I could.” (Pg. 93) This speaks to not only the Younger’s housing situation, but Chicago’s housing situation as a whole during this time period. This was due to a legal practice called redlining in which African Americans could be charged more for homes where other African Americans lived due to the area being considered a risky investment, and kept costs down for houses in predominantly white areas. “Anywhere where African-Americans lived, anywhere where African-Americans lived nearby were colored red to indicate to appraisers that these neighborhoods were too risky to ensure mortgages” (Gross) While white people had better jobs and better income, they also had access to better, safer housing at a lower cost. The options for black families at this time was to continue to live in overcrowded apartment buildings or pay more than double for a house in a predominantly black neighborhood. Mama decided she was finally going to live out her dream and buy her family the best house that money could afford, regardless of the ramifications that might come their way.
Concerns about the safety of the Younger family in this new neighborhood begin to arise and are propelled by the visit of their neighbor, Mrs. Johnson. While appearing to make a normal visit to the Younger family, Mrs. Johnson shares the news of a black family that was bombed out of their home when they moved into a white neighborhood. She later says “I bet this time next month y’alls names will have been in the papers plenty- NEGROES INVADE CLYBOURNE PARK-BOMBED!” (Pg. 102) This ignorant comment further raised concern for Mama and Ruth about their safety moving into an all white neighborhood. While Mama took all of this into account before buying the home, she was not trying to put her family at risk, integrate into the middle class, or attempt to take a large stand against discrimination. She was just trying to achieve their dreams and have a better living situation where the whole family could be happy. Not only did this quote raise awareness to the Youngers of the danger they would be facing, but also to the readers. Ransberry was letting the readers know the true danger of racial discrimination at this time, which could be the cost of their lives.
Racial discrimination was largely symbolized through the character of Mr. Lindor. He is the representative of the Clybourne Park Improvement Association. He shared a visit to the Younger’s apartment in which he appeared as if he just wanted to have a civilized talk with them. He says “that we don’t try hard enough in this world to understand the other fellow’s problem. The other guy’s point of view.” (Pg. 117) Instead, he had an ulterior motive. This motive was to tell them “our association is prepared, through the collective effort of our people, to buy the house from you at a financial gain to your family.” (Pg. 118) The people of Clybourne Park were willing to do just about anything to keep a black family from moving into their neighborhood and ruining their perfect suburbia. Mr. Lindor truly thought this plan would work and was not prepared for the stand the Younger family took against him when they told him, in no uncertain terms, no. He was outraged by their response and then said “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…” (Pg. 119) His passive aggressive tactics to convince the Youngers not to move into his neighborhood was unsuccessful. The Younger family was going to achieve their dreams and better their housing situation regardless of the racial discrimination surrounding them.
Discussion Questions:
1- The scene with Mrs. Johnson was taken out of many editions of this play according to Robert Nemiroff. How did this scene deepen your understanding of racial discrimination throughout the play? What emotions did this scene convey for you and the Younger family?
2- How did the character of Mr. Lindor symbolize racial discrimination? What quotes from him stood out to you the most?
Citations:
Gross, Terry. “A ‘Forgotten History’ of How the U.S. Government Segregated America.” NPR, NPR, 3 May 2017, https://www.npr.org/2017/05/03/526655831/a-forgotten-history-of-how-the-u-s-government-segregated-america.
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Vintage Books, 1994.
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Nice job Lauren, I really liked how you viewed Mr. Lindor and sort of changed him from a character in the book to more of a symbol that is representing something with more meaning behind it. I believe that Mr. Lindor characterizes racial discrimination as a whole. I bet every white person in that neighborhood wanted the younger family to leave with no problem, so Mr. Linder was the one who tried it and did it in the most respectful way possible. His plan was to bribe the family. “Mr. Lindor – to buy the house from you at a financial gain for your family.” (pg. 118). He thought that money would be enough for the family to move, but he was terribly mistaken after Walter kicked him out. Mr. Lindor’s approach was very understanding because the neighborhood could have gone about it in an entirely different way which could’ve been worse. His character as a whole was just a way to try and bribe the younger family to leave their neighborhood.
Great Blog Post Lauren, I agree with what you said in your blog post and happy you brought up Mr. Lindner because I felt he was a focal point of the 3rd scene that needed to be discussed. I disagree with the ideas of his trying to leave the neighborhood because of their skin tone and the racial discrimination he presents towards the younger family. Mr. Lindner symbolizes racial discrimination by saying things like “as I say, that for the happiness of all concerned that our Negro families are happier when they live in their own communities.” (118) I believe for Mr. Lindner to even go to the younger house and offer money to buy a specific family out because of their race is disrespectful and wrong. The Younger families ongoing battle with dealing with Racial discrimination and sexism and you did a great providing more example of it in your blog post.
Hi Lauren! I really like your connection of Mr. Linder to racial discrimination I just wish you could further that analysis. I do, however, agree with the fact that he is a symbol of racism I just wish you elaborated more on that because it is a good point! To further your argument he is very ignorant, and his character is a representation of stereotyping. His actions show how people do not realize they are being insulting rather than helpful or knowledgeable. He thought he was being informative and warned the family of the dangers of their recent move when he was actually being so rude. This quote “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” clearly shows the entitlement of Mr. Linder and how he is not meaning to racially discriminate them but the only thing he knows in this world they live in is that idea of black people that society has created. As a result, him just voicing his opinion based on his roots comes out extremely wrong and insulting.
Hi Lauren!! I loved reading your blog post and learning about your perspective on the Youngers’ housing situation. I think your blog post hits vital aspects focused within the text, along with the inclusion of outside information like Redling and how you defined Redling for those who may not have known what that word means. As I do agree with your statement about Mama’s intentions to achieve their dream and a better living situation. “, she was not trying to put her family at risk, integrate into the middle class, or attempt to take a large stand against discrimination. She was just trying to achieve their dreams and have a better living situation where the whole family could be happy.” I disagree with your perspective on the reason why she bought the house. On page 93, two lines above the reason you gave it say “ I just tried to find the nicest place for the least amount of money for my family”. From my perspective when reading the play I felt as if Mama’s decisions of where she bought the house did not take race into account, but mainly just the economic factors like price and location.
Hello Lauren, this deepened my understanding of multiple scenes in the play and brought awareness to how the enduring issue of racism is so significant to the plot of the piece as well. The concept of “redlining” shocked e because these days, houses that are not in particularly nice ares are considered ghetto or just lower class housing that is cheaper in value, but redlining in the exact opposite where higher class people or in this case and during these times , white people pay less for their homes. This concept is backward compared to housing situations in our present day and that speaks to the time this play took place and also the severity of racism during this time. A professional figure within the community Mr. Linder said, “What do you think you are going to gain by moving into a neighborhood where you just aren’t wanted…” Mama is being respectful and has the money to move into this home for the good of her family and this quote from Mr. Lindor does not only speak to his character but the inhumane actions that were considered normal during this time. It made me happy the way Mama handled the situation and proceeds to stand her ground despite the surrounding racism they will encounter.
Hi, Lauren! I really like what your interpretation of Mr. Lindor. I agree with his passive aggressive tactics trying to manipulate the family into moving elsewhere. His intentions are not pure and are most definitely racially motivated. I think the resistance to succumb to the oppression shows progressive attitudes from the Youngers even when they are faced with a potential monetary compensation. There are misconceptions about having a black family in a predominantly white neighborhood as well. This is presented through the quotation “What they think we going to do– eat ‘em?” (Hansberry 121). There are stereotypes and societal issues regarding race which is clear through that quotation. The clap back by Ruth to the hateful language demonstrates the way they are pushing past norms set in place at that time. She states, “that’s the way the crackers crumble” (Hansberry 121). They are aware of the discrimination but are choosing to not give in and accept it.
Hey Lauren! After reading Raisin in the Sun Act 2, the part where Mrs. Johnson came in was a surprise. It was a surprise that they have taken out such a critical area of the play in a few other editions. The scene helped me understand that there was not only racial discrimination that they had to face but discrimination and jealousy from their “peers’ as well. Mrs Johnson seemed to be the settled jealous type, who just plainly accepts whats going on in the world and want others to do the same. At one point Mrs. Johnson states ‘The Youngers is too much for me! (She looks around) You sure one proud-acting bunch of colored folks’, which, to me, it seems like she had a motive in the first place to come over and discourage them in the whole moving thing, yet seeing that her plan didn’t succeed, she got a bit angry and just insulted them instead. This scene just made me plain angry yet seeing that the Youngers did not give in to her words, they stood their ground, it made me happy to see that.
Hi Lauren, I liked the way you truly analyzed the scenes depicting their housing situation as well as the hostility viewed in this entire act. It becomes interesting to see their personal account as the family experiences that ostracism that many other possibly faced during the same time. In the reading, Mama gains money and decides that she not only wants to buy something that would benefit her but her entire family as well. It became a dream for her to buy a home but even when she sacrificed, her family still judged her decision as they moved into a white neighborhood. However they were soon welcomed into their new neighborhood by Mr. Lindor’s character who stood as a symbol or racial discrimination. This unknown time was most likely covered in other people such as him but he symbolized a hatred, disgusted and superiority to people just because of something they could not control. He becomes a symbol to represent all white people and so far has been the only white character in the text. He attempts to give hope and a solution being discussion to understand one another because the community was in fear of them moving into their white neighborhood. Him like many other individuals in the community wanted them out for their own gain with instances referring to them as “you people” which seems derogotary as their community felt”awful worked up when […]their whole life and everything they’ve ever worked for was threatened”(Hansberry 119). His intent was to express and support his superiority as well as belittle them into their stereotypical ideas as his community had only expressed negative understanding on a whole community. However, he truly failed in his execution and not only established beliefs for a. whole community but made the family less than humane in the reading.
Hi Lauren, I love that you brought up redlining in your blog post. It definitely explains Mama’s struggle finding a house in negro community that was affordable and was a great piece of information given to solidify your point. Summarizing Lindner’s character as the representation of Racial discrimination makes a lot of sense, considering (as you said) he is the first and only white person to make it onto the stage throughout the entire play. When Beneatha says, “This, friends, is the Welcoming Committee!” (118), combined with her apprehension towards Lindner the moment he walked through the door, is an indication that she had a feeling his reaction would be such. The first assumption when they see a white man during the whole play is that he’s there to bring them bad news, and they were correct, which I feel adds to Lindner’s representation of segregation and racial prejudice.
Hi Lauren, I loved reading your blog post. Throughout this post, I liked how many different points you spoke about, Mama’s dream to move the family out of that small apartment into a home where it was “safer” for the family. However, when the family moves into the house that Mama had bought in Clybourne Park, it’s known to be a predominantly white neighborhood, they might not feel as safe as they thought they would. I’m glad you brought up Mr. Lindor, I thought it was interesting how you spoke of him more as a symbol of racial discrimination than a character. When speaking to the family Mr. Linder stated, “ I am sure you people must be aware of some of the incidents which have happened in various parts of the city when colored people have moved into certain areas” (116). After he said this I would understand why the family may feel unsafe in the Clybourne Park community, it seems as though he is trying to scare them away and it comes off racist as he uses the words “colored people” to describe African Americans, this is often seen as a racial slur.