Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun: A Ghetto Trap
0 General Document comments
0 Sentence and Paragraph comments
0 Image and Video comments
Guidelines: Engage with the text and each other!
- Comment the minimum of 3 times (pointing out a reference to the book, something that you learned, comparing it to the real world or your community, a relatable experience, or something interesting)
There is an image commenting option! Gifs and memes are welcomed
He is saying he doesn’t care if they have equal quality of things, and housing, as long as they do it in their own space. This in fact does make him a bigot, because he doesn’t believe they are equal enough to live in the same neighborhood.
- Look up words you may not know and comment the defintion to help future readers after you
- Highlight the minimum of 3 times (using the highlighted color indicators)
- Privately respond to another peer at least three 3 times (actively engage with their comment!)
- Watch the short videos at the end of the article and comment back to them
During 1959, in a growing neighborhood outside Chicago, Progress Development Corpo ration planned to sell ten to twelve new homes to blacks.When the all-white neighborhood of Deerfield discovered this, they were furious (Rosen 24).One resident, Bob Danning, explained his feelings and the feelings of his neighbors when he stated, “We’re not bigots.We don’t go around calling people names.And I don’t think we want to deny Negroes or anybody else the right to decent homes, just as good as ours.But not next door” (Rosen 16).
I THINK THAT A NEIGHBORHOOD WHO JUST SAYS, YOU’RE NOT WELCOMED BECAUSE OF THE COLOR OF YOUR SKIN DOES MAKE YOU RACIST, WHETHER OR NOT YOU LIKE THE TERM.
the fact that black people have to be worried for their lives, is terrible. just because they want to live in a place where they have the same health care, and protection.
i completely agree, i think if a person doesn’t want another person of color to live next to them, they are racist.
if you say you’re not racist, but have a problem living next to a person of color thats being a racist and not even trying to hide it
You can’t just say you want people to have a house just as nice as yours and then say you can’t live next to me.
this is horrible because they recalling black people names and and saying they can’t be next door to whites which is borderline racist in my opinion.
The color of someone’s skin SHOULD NOT make anyone feel less welcome than the people around them.
I think that it is crazy because if they are able to be in the neighborhood and worked to get there then they deserve to be there more than anything and should not be looked down on or not welcomed just for something they achieved to do
I find it interesting that these people don’t like being seen as racists but have no problem with doing racist actions
This resident started his sentence claiming he and the people of this neighborhood are not bigots but proceeds to explain how he doesnt want to deny housing to anyone (specifically talking about african americans)but just not anywhere near his house. He’s contradicting himself
the facts that he admitted that makes it clear neighbor are just enemies they don’t see black folks as man but they don’t realize how girlish they oppose themselves to society.If a man does not have honor, respect,courage,sentiment to others then they don’t deserve to be human it’s just cannibalism.
Lorraine Hansberry (1930–1965) analyzes northern racism, as expressed by Bob Danning, and its cruel effects in her play A Raisin in the Sun, which she claims is “specifically [about] Southside Chicago.”
Many social issues of the 1950’s, including feminism, gender roles, the black family, and the pan-African movement, as well as events within Hansberry’s own life, are interweaved in this play.However, a central theme of A Raisin in the Sun reveals how racism from the housing industry, government, religious leaders, and average Americans supported the segregated housing environment of Chicago.
The setting of A Raisin in the Sun is the ghetto of Chicago, where most blacks lived.These districts consisted of overpriced, overcrowded, and poorly-maintained apartments and homes.In the ghettos, crime rates were high and public services were limited.Most blacks living in the ghetto had hopes of leaving to [go to] better suburban neighborhoods, but segregated housing kept them stuck in the ghetto.
I TOTALLY DISAGREE WITH THIS STATEMENT BECAUSE IT IMPLIES THAT THE CONDITIONS OF THE HOUSING AND NEIGHBORHOODS ARE. BY THE CHOICES OF ITS RESIDENTS AND THAT IS NOT TRUE. THE CONDITIONS ARE BECAUSE THE GOVERNMENT DOESN’T EVEN HELP OR PROVIDE RESOURCES TO KEEP UP WITH THE NEEDS OF THE RESIDENTS
one thing clear the government only want to make their own profit that’s what holding working class why cant’t everything be the same.
the government does not help with what they may need, the conditions could be much better if the government helped.
I agree with your statement the government should step in to help more poor neighbhorhoods
the government is only “for the people” when the people are white
That’s really true and it’s sad because a lot of these problems are an easy fix for the government
This comment is so true and its blantanly obvious yet nothing gets done about it even in todays day and age. We are at a point i time where things like this shouldnt be happening
Stuff like this has been going on for way too long, and the fact that there needs to be protests for people to be heard and noticed is ridiculous…
especially for the rich they get richer everyday and can easily afford a home but some people can’t
I agree with the comment people try to use low income families to their advantage by overpricing them so they have to continue using what little money they had to pay rent for a place thats not even in the best condition
Just like in the raisin in the sun, water wants something more for their family and they will continue to try.
I think its unfair segregated housing keeps black people stuck in the ghetto. If people don’t like their living conditions/environment they should have the right to change it. If white people wanted to move out of their neighborhood they could do so, what is the difference?
It is sad how the people in these areas are at such a disadvantage and we can really see that in the story
it is truly unfair that just because of their color they are stuck altogether in poor living conditions and had a simple dream of just living somewhere better
The government is taking advantage of the people living in these homes, by not providing them or helping them properly maintain good conditions. The government spends the money that could be used for making more homes in these crowded areas and re paving the streets instead of the millions they spend on campaigning.
The housing industry was the greatest cause of segregated housing in Chicago.Within the housing industry, many social scientists observed that “real estate agencies play the largest role in maintaining segregated communities.” Real estate agents made enormous profits manipulating white fears of integration and black desires to escape the ghetto, as evidenced by the lucrative practice of blockbusting.A real estate agent would encourage a black family to move to an all-white neighborhood.Housing costs within the white neighborhoods were much lower than black neighborhoods, so some black family would attempt to move, despite threats from future white neighbors.After the black family moved in, nervous whites feared their property values would crash.The real estate agent would then purchase much of whites’ houses for well below their market value, and resell them well above their market value to blacks wanting to flee the ghetto.This lucrative bait-and-switch procedure could double real estate agen cies’ profits within two years.Whites who experienced blockbusting held hard feelings towards blacks which sometimes turned violent.
it is crazy that they are manipulating because they are more focused on money than human decency. If someone of color works to get where they can they should not fear where they are because white people want to terrorize them because they dont want them there
its crazy to think that people in the housing industry tried to control who and where people lived
of course the housing industry controls the housing market
SHOULD THE GOVERNEMNT OR SOME OUTSIDE SOURCE CONTROL OR POLICE THIS BECAUSE IT IS SO OVERTLY RACIST
I think its horrible that they can make blacks pay more money based on skin color because they control housing.
This seems so hateful and unproductive in a time where we should’ve been moving on from racism and hating people based on the color of their skin.
Why would the real estate agents sell the homes for above the market price when knowing they couldn’t afford anything close to that price. This shows hate towards the black community.
was this set up because the whites families did not want to be living with the blacks or was this set up for another reason
Real estate agents also fostered the segregation in Chicago by developing separate housing markets for blacks and whites.In 1917 the Chicago Real Estate Board con demned the sale and rental of housing to blacks outside of city blocks contingent to the ghetto.Conditions did not change in the next half-century, and blacks interested in a home or apartment were usually shown only ghettos or transition neighborhoods.Real estate agents limited blacks’ housing options by rarely offering them housing opportunities outside the ghetto.The real estate industry literally trapped the black family in the ghetto.
I agree its horrible that because of your skin color you can be denied of buying a house
I think that is is horrible and should not be allowed to happen and I’m surprised things like this were “ok” to them back then. When it comes to supporting your family and providing for them, it shouldn’t be held off because of your skin color.
I believe if you have the money to live somewhere you want to live then live there. the color of someone’s skin should not hold them back from achieving their goals.
the fact that landlords would charge black families more money to move in is crazy just because the color of someones skin they get a bunch of money added on to a probably already high rent and on top of that they get fees.
the fact that real estate agents have that much control and can prevent someone of color from getting a house because of their race ethnicity and just because they are not white is truly disgusting to me
I agree. too many people had power. power was constantly in the wrong hands, and it still happens to this day
The fact that the real estate agents trapped the families in a place they were trying to leave is awful. Why would anyone want to keep people in an area that has extremely poor living conditions, and is a place that clearly doesn’t provide anything for the families.
The real estate industry was aided in segregating Chicago by unfair costs of living within the housing industry.Landlords charged black families high prices for low quality housing, and the average black family in the ghetto had to pay 10% more in housing taxes and fees than in a comparable white neighborhood.Higher housing costs limited blacks’ opportunities to move to bet ter neighborhoods by taking away a large portion of their income.In addition, most white landlords did not maintain their slum property, leading to poor living conditions.Many black families suffered these higher housing costs and poor living conditions within the ghetto because they could not save enough money to move to a cheaper suburban neighborhood.
The real estate industry made a continuous cycle of taking most of their income. With the real estate industry doing that they will never have enough money to leave the cycle. Just like in raisin in the sun Walter wants to open up a business to help his family but everything is against him and preventing him from doing that.
exactly they overprice them because they know they can barely afford where they’re re living now
its insane how because of your skin color you have to pay way more money than someone who is white
A Raisin in the Sun notes that the housing industry has a racist nature because of discrepancies in housing cost within black and white communities and their separate housing locations.Walter and Ruth are stunned that Mama purchases a house in an entirely white neighborhood, because moving to a white neighborhood could put their lives at risk.Mama explains why she was unwilling to stay in the black community when she states, “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,” also noting that the new houses built for blacks are located in their own segregated communities, “way out.”
Another reason people were stuck is that when they finally get out they might be put in danger because of it
I agree. It was definitely hard for black families to progress in this society.
When Ruth observes to Mama that “we’ve put enough [money] in this rat trap to pay for four houses by now,” she is not making an idle statement considering the unreasonably high costs of ghetto housing.Like most blacks in the Chicago ghetto, the Younger family lives in a “tired,” run-down, “rat trap.”
Neighborhood games further reveal poverty: Travis chases and kills a rat “as big as a cat” with his friends (59).The Youngers’ house is roach-infested, and a Saturday morning chore consists of “spraying insecticide into the cracks in the walls.”
Like the “rat trap” of the Youngers, living conditions for blacks in the ghetto were poor. […]
Mama didn’t even buy a house in the “segregated communities” but it shows that the landlords would only show them run-down houses. You can see this because of all the work they do to make the house able to live in.
You can see how much money families that live in these areas are putting into their homes. They keep spending all the money they have to repair their homes when with that money they could buy a nicer home. They are stuck in a cycle that they cant get out of. There is no need for the homes to be that expensive and that much to repair if something is wrong with the home.
I feel like this is purposely done by the government. Put people into run-down homes and make them pay for the repairs. It’s more lucrative than having someone buy a home they don’t have to put work into.
facts that will keep them to work til they died this country is so mess up i’m not dying in this billy country i’ll be going back home start business and when i buy a house it’s mine forever.
When Lorraine Hansberry was a child, her family experienced firsthand the results of a government unconcerned with blacks leaving segregation.After the Hansberrys moved into a white neighborhood, their neighbors brought a lawsuit to evict them.The local Chicago government was willing to eject the Hansberrys from their new home but Lorraine’s father, Carl Hansberry, took their case to court.With the help of the NAACP, he eventually won the right to stay, but never recovered from the emotional stress of their legal battles.
It is crazy that this man has to go to court just to live in his own house
I have never had this happen to me but its unbelievable that this happens in the real world and that people can actually be this cruel to other people
The problem of the government which held blacks in the ghetto and which the Hansberry family experienced is implied in A Raisin in the Sun.Walter plans to chop through the government’s forest of red tape to gain a liquor license by bribing a city official.He explains his reasoning to Ruth, his wife, saying, “don’t nothing happen for you in this world ’less you pay somebody off!”[…] A government where graft is common is a government slow to respond to its peoples’ needs—as was Chicago.Despite the poverty that the Younger family lives in, there is no mention of help or any sort of aid from the government, even to fumigate their house for healthier living conditions. […]
Besides the housing industry, the government, and religious leaders, personal racism on the individual level kept blacks in the Chicago ghettos.Terrified of blacks en tering their neighborhoods, whites believed that integration “endangered their turf, their community, the place they called home.”
Moving to a white neighborhood could be deadly for black families.From 1944 to 1946 there were over 46 arson bombings within Chicago directed at black homes on the ghettos’ outskirts.In 1965, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) marched against segregated housing in Chicago.
In one instance, 500 black pro testers marched in a white neighborhood, Gage Park, to protest segregation.They were promptly attacked by 4000 outraged whites.Even the KKK and the American Nazi party came north to Chicago during SCLC’s open-housing movement because conditions appeared ripe for recruits.After Carl Hansberry sued to remain in his new neighborhood, “howling mobs” sur rounded the Hansberry’s house.At one point a brick hurled through their window barely missed Lorraine’s head before embedding itself in their wall.This violence, from the perspective of many whites, was unfortunate, for as long as both races remained separate, conflict was unnecessary.When integration threatened the carefully crafted white society, violence ensued.
Even back then when black people would protest, they would be attacked. The samething is happening in today’s society where black people still have to protest and get attack while doing so.
it’s crazy to see that things are still similar after so much “progress” was made
its horrible that your giving the right to protest and when blacks do so they get hurt and attacked for wanting to be treated equally in society with no racism, its shameful these things still happen today
it is the governments fault, but society and what they see as the “ideal person” looks like.
It is sad that they have to go through protests to try to make a change and be noticed for how much they go through. I also agree with how it is the governments fault but also the society seeing only the color of someones skin.
The role of individual racism within seg regated housing in Chicago is an important focus of A Raisin in the Sun.When Ruth and Walter first hear the news that they will be moving to Clybourne Park, they are shocked.Walter looks at his mother with “hostility,” while Ruth’s stunned response is, “Clybourne Park?Mama, there ain’t no colored people living in Clybourne Park.”
Walter becomes bitter as Ruth tries to ad just to the shock.They realize that their lives could be at risk from an irate vigilante if they move within a white neighborhood.
They do not want to move to an area where there is no other black families and the white people dont want them either.
Just as individuals’ violence fought to keep Chicago segregated, violence threat ens the Younger family.Fire bombings are discussed in the play by the simplistic Mrs. Johnson.She arrives to chat, and while discussing the Younger’s upcoming move asks if Mama and Ruth have read “about them colored people that was bombed out of their place out there.”
She then idiotically states, “Lord—I bet this time next month y’all’s names will have been in the papers plenty—‘NEGROES INVADE CLYBOURNE PARK—BOMBED!’”[…] She warns Mama and Ruth that “these here Chicago pecker woods is some baaaad peckerwoods,” an accurate statement of white Chicago’s gen eral hatred of integration [a peckerwood is a disparaging term for a white Southerner].
The characterization of Karl Lindner is a scathing commentary on white Northern racism on the personal level.He appears innocuous, “quiet-looking,” “middle aged,” and “a gentle man.” He explains to the Youngers that “most of the trouble [between whites and blacks] exists because people just don’t sit down and talk to each other.” He is calm, patient, and “almost sadly” warns the Youngers that they will be in physical danger if they move into Clybourne Park.However, by desiring to keep the Youngers from Clybourne Park, he is implying to them, as Mama says, “they aren’t fit to walk the earth.” Like Bob Danning, Karl Lindner says, “I want you to believe me when I tell you that race prejudice simply doesn’t enter into it.” At the end of the play, when Walter trium phantly kicks him out of the house, Karl’s true character is as weak and shallow as that of whites who openly support housing segregation.The Younger family ignores his veiled threats and concentrates on Walter, the unexpected hero.Karl’s last line is a lame, “I sure hope you people know what you’re getting into.”
I WOULD ARGUE YES, BUT COULD SOME ARGUE NO?
I do agree to an extent because people can sit down and talk but sometimes they choose whether or not they want to listen to each other.
I feel like this could apply to everything in life. some people hate to hate and don’t really pay any attention to whats on the inside of everyone.
The role of individual racism within segregated housing in Chicago is an important focus of A Raisin in the Sun.When Ruth and Walter first hear the news that they will be moving to Clybourne Park, they are shocked.Walter looks at his mother with “hostility,” while Ruth’s stunned response is, “Clybourne Park?Mama, there ain’t no colored people living in Clybourne Park.”
Walter becomes bitter as Ruth tries to ad just to the shock.They realize that their lives could be at risk from an irate vigilante if they move within a white neighborhood.
Carl Sandburg called Chicago America’s laughing city, “proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.”
Bill Berry, of Chicago’s Urban League, called Chicago “America’s largest segregated city.”
A Raisin in the Sun shows through the triumph of the black spirit amidst white racism and segregation that both observations are accurate.Robert Nemiroff, in his introduction to the 1987 text, called the play “so contemporary” because of Lorraine Hansberry’s ability to tie social issues, including the rise of second wave feminism, questioning of gender roles, the difficulties of the black family, and the death of colonialism, throughout A Raisin in the Sun.However, her portrayal of Chicago’s segregated housing market is particularly poignant because of her accurate observation that Chicago’s segregated housing existed mainly because of racism within the housing industry, the government, religious leaders, and the individual American.
This is interesting as to why he would say that about such a bad time in history.
In Deerfield, the white community halted Progress Development Corporation’s build ing project in court.By 1962, three years from when the controversy began, Harry and David Rosen concluded, “in Deerfield, there are no Negroes next door.”
A Raisin in the Sun is still a rebuke to suburban audi ences today.For most of us, there are still no Negroes next door.
Watch this 1 minute video of a person's optimistic (positive) experience living in the "Black Ghetto" also known as "The Black Belt". ALSO, comment which character from A Raisin in the Sun could relate to his story the most and why. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqn5OmF23HY
THIS IS LIKE MAMA BECAUSE HER FAMILY HAD TO ESCAPE THE RACISM AND SEGREGATION OF THE SOUTH ONLY TO MOVE INTO IT IN THE NORTH.
I think that big Walter would be able to relate to what the man was saying.
I think it reminds me of Walter because he has hope in his dreams of the liquor store
I think Walter would relate to this because in the video they talked about trying to provide for their family more.
Walter was trying to provide more for is family
I think that this man was just very sweet like as bad as everything he had went through he just seemed very appreciative no matter how rough it was and areas were just segregated
this video reminds me of mama and how she wants to get her family out of the area that the were in
Review this video of what Chicago looked like in the 1940s (still similar to the 1950's) and try to listen to Kayne West's song at the same time to feel the emotion about growing up in a world that lacks representation and is desparate for change. Comment by mentioning a photo in the video that sticks out to you the most (and why), but also comment your reactions about the community back then https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=60ghHaH_jXQ
THIS JUST SHOWS THE TRAGIC INEQUITIES BETWEEN THE WHITE WORLD AND THE BLACK GHETTOS OF CHICAGO AND OTHER BLACK, URBAN AREAS IN THE UNITED STATES
it shows the troubles and hardships of growing up in America being black
it’s crazy to think that they couldn’t even share a thing as simple as water.
you can tell how upsetting it was to live in this time and that all these people wanted to be equal and they just didn’t want to see them win but continued to let them suffer. They knew they were the same and treated different when they deserved the same and worked just as hard if not harder than those of white priviledge
the pictures that stuck out to me were how all of the white people were smiling and having a good time and the black children and adults were all working and looked frustrated.
within the video there are pictures representing the time in which they were taken. All of them shave one common theme of racism. One picture that stood out to me was a picture of a huge crowd of white men it looked like thousands of people and standing before them is a man dressed in a KKK uniform. This put a pit in my stomach looking at how many people there was listening to this one man speaking and I couldn’t even imagine what type of hatred that was spewing out of his mouth and how many of those people genuinely agreed with him
picture with the teachers (looked like a class photo)
Pictures that stood out to me was the pictures with the “white only sign” and “colored only sign” under little things like a simple water fountain or a bathroom.
The pictures that stood out to me were the ones that had “color only” or “white only” signs on everything around them. They had water fountains, buildings, bathrooms, transportation, seats, ect..
that picture stood out to me the most because I find it ridiculous that people of color actually have to separated so much that they can’t even drink the same water as white people… it’s honestly disgusting
they claim white and black people can have the same things, but then why aren’t they equal enough to share it with white people. This caused seegregaaation
General Document Comments 0
where you live or the color of your skin should never define you. you should not have to live a certain place just because of your race.
i agree because everyone should treated equal, no one should be treated different because the color of the color of their skin.
It is not fair to place people in a poorer neighborhood with few to no opportunities just because of what they look like, which is something they have no control over.
the color of your skin. where you live, or what you believe in shouldn’t be what defines you but it does. What should define you is how hard you work and want to change to always improve to better yourself. Not only should that not define you it shouldn’t determine where you live.
Character is a much better way to judge than appearance. Granted we should not judge at all because we all have flaws. If you are going to like or dislike someone, you should only do so based on how they treat people.
icons on the left to see existing comments.
0 archived comments