Here you will find the tools learned in this class, transpired over to other class assignments.

Dylan Ram

Professor Breaux

Theater History III

11/20/2019

A Raisin in the Sun & The Civil Rights Movement

            Throughout the play, A Raisin in the Sun, the actors do their ultimate best to be able to reflect the times they were living through which was the Civil Rights Movements. Dreams and aspirations hold a huge part of this production but when doing extensive research, it is clear that the play is more like a protest than an actual play. The play focuses on major roles of the Civil Rights era which included assimilation and integration. With these roles, A Raisin in the Sun brings all these to light through its production in 1959 and with the command of Lorraine Hansberry, it becomes a stepping point for social issues for years to come.

For the Civil Rights Movement, it was a huge influential part of the development for African Americans in the United States. This historical event took place from 1954-1968 and had many supporters throughout the years of its activity. Some of the big events at the time was the installation of Jim Crow Laws (History), which were laws that limited the rights of African Americans in the southern states of America. The laws included African Americans cannot use the same facilities as white people, they cannot share water fountains, go to the same schools, play on the same sports teams, etc. (History). This limited the potential African Americans had for the near future. Also, the integration of schools like Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas where nine African American students entered the school facing hateful white protestors outside the school and bullying as they went about their regular class days. Or even Freedom Riders who rode Greyhound Buses across the states to bring awareness as they reached segregation states. After the first set of riders were beaten and almost killed, they received national attention and gained support from even the federal marshals so the riders can peacefully protest thus forcing the segregation on transit to be terminated (History). But with all the headway that is being made, still the African Americans are oppressed.

When looking at the production itself we can see the Younger family is fighting something bigger than each other. African Americans at the time were giving everything they could to be a part of the new American society where they would not be taunted or shouted at every second of their lives or in other words, go through assimilation. Their attempt for assimilation is not motivated by their own desire but by necessity for the practical purchase of a house would out a roof over the heads of the family. But certain characters in the production represent certain aspects of the times they were living through. For assimilation, George Murchison represented the African Americans who successfully assimilated to the culture but has happened to leave behind his African roots to be seen as an equal to white people and the rest of society. In Act 2. Scene 1, George, while talking to Beneatha states, “Let’s face it baby, your heritage is nothing but a bunch of raggedy-assed spirituals and some grass huts! (Hansberry). When phrases like this are said, the meaning behind it holds a lot of value because George wants to. Move forward in his life but he knows that his black ancestry will prohibit him from doing so, which eventually calls for him to drop his heritage completely. In reference to the civil rights movement assimilation was something that was looked down upon and Lorraine Hansberry was a driving force and, “This article attempts to defend her against accusations of assimilation, since hers was a call for integration” (Saber). Hansberry was not a supporter of assimilation because she has pride in who she is a never wanted. To change that, but wanted to use this play as a way of pushing for change that African Americans are there and they do not plan on leaving, so society should accept it everyone should live happily together. A big character in this production who is not in favor of assimilation is Asagai who is an African American who does not want to forget his African heritage but wants it to be part of his life. In a review written by Michelle Gordon, she says, “Hansberry turns again to Asagai to confront fundamental questions of the play: “isn’t there something wrong in a house- in a world- where all dreams, good or bad, must depend on the death of a man” (3.1). Here, Asagai brings the local and global together, suggesting that not only should the Youngers question the material aspects of their individual ambitions and values, but that we all should interrogate the capitalist principles on which modern society is structured” (Gordon) She suggest that with Lorraine Hansberry’s version of Asagai, he is the line that keeps the people of the Younger house closer to their roots but also work to achieve success as a family.

Another big part of the Civil Rights Movement is the fight for African Americans to be able to integrate themselves into their newfound society of being free. Integration itself means to incorporate individuals as equals in a specific society and bring together different races and ethnicities. Throughout the play, the problems of race and color of people’s skin comes up a lot especially in Act 1. Scene 2 when Walter says, “Mama – sometimes when I’m downtown and I pass them cool-quiet-looking restaurants where them white boys are sitting back and talking ‘bout things…sitting there turning deals worth millions of dollars…sometimes I see guys don’t look much older than me” (Hansberry). Walter sees that the world he lives in is not something he wants to live by because he is a grown man who scrambles for work and barely makes any money when they’re people way younger than he is making way more money. Integration is seen here because the life African Americans were living was not enough and the ambitions and dreams of hardworking African Americans and seeing white people enjoying life like this, it started to anger and upset them. Integration for the Younger family is explained greatly when in a review, Brook Atkinson says, “What the situations are does not matter at the moment. For A Raisin in the Sun is a play about human beings who want, on the one hand, to preserve their family pride and, on the other hand, to break out of the poverty that seems to be their fate. Not having any axe to grind, Miss Hansberry has a wide range of topics to write about-some of them hilarious, some of them painful in the extreme” (Atkinson). The presence of integration here holds major value because it is clear that the Youngers want to be considered equals with the “superior” race of America but want to achieve success through an honest living. But, they are held back by society thinking that African Americans are inferior to white people and through A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry promotes the equal rights and treatment of black people all across America. But when looking at outside sources, it is very clear that Lorraine Hansberry’s play helps integrate actors of the times onto some of the biggest stages in the world. One article says, “A Raisin in the Sun – a play written by an unknown Black woman, produced by inexperienced newcomers, and directed by an untried young Black man – to reach the professional New York stage. Although Sidney Poitier brought “star quality” to the show, the other performers (with the exception of Claudia McNeil) had yet to make their mark on the American theatre. Yet the talent of this first cast proved extraordinary and the chemistry perfect for a memorable show. Today the names of playwright Lorraine Hansberry, director Lloyd Richards, producers Phil Rose and David Cogan, actors Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil, Lou Gossett, Glynn Turman, Diana Sands, Ivan Dixon, Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, understudies Douglas Turner Ward, Lonne Elder, Beah Richards, and others are widely known for their contributions to theatre” (Wilkerson). This proves that Hansberry’s production allowed a majority African American cast to be able to make a name for themselves and thus contributing to the real process of integration all over the country.

The Civil Rights Movement alone shook the entire U.S. society in a way that would change the way people were treated for the rest of time. Even though people of color still face some kind of prejudice today, their presence in every aspect of the worlds is unparalleled to what is was like in the late 1950’s in the U.S. All of the rights and equal status that African Americans have now can be traced back to people like Lorraine Hansberry who fought and used her craft to portray the reality of how life really was and with this, she changed the world as we know it.

Work Cited Page

Primary Sources:

Atkinson, Brooks. “Review of the Original 1959 Broadway Production.” Review of the Original 1959 Broadway Production | Huntington Theatre Company, https://www.huntingtontheatre.org/articles/A-Raisin-in-the-Sun/Review-of-the-Original-1959-Broadway-production/.

 

The Movement LORRAINE HANSBERRY – Khdzamlit.weebly.com.              https://khdzamlit.weebly.com/uploads/1/1/2/6/11261956/a_raisin_in_the_sun_-_lorraine_hansberry.pdf

Outside Theatre Studies:

Chapman, Erin D. “Staging Gendered Radicalism at the Height of the US Cold War: A Raisin in the Sun and Lorraine Hansberry’s Vision of Freedom.” Gender & History, vol. 29, no. 2, Aug. 2017, pp. 446–467. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/1468-0424.12296.

 

SABER, YOMNA. “Lorraine Hansberry: Defining the Line Between Integration and Assimilation.” Women’s Studies, vol. 39, no. 5, July 2010, pp. 451–469. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/00497878.2010.484330.

Secondary Sources:

Gordon, Michelle. “‘Somewhat like War’: The Aesthetics of Segregation, Black Liberation, and ‘A Raisin in the Sun.’” African American Review, vol. 42, no. 1, 2008, pp. 121–133. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40301308.

 

History.com Editors. “Civil Rights Movement.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 27 Oct. 2009, https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement.

 

Wilkerson, Margaret B. “‘A Raisin in the Sun’: Anniversary of an American Classic.” Theatre Journal, vol. 38, no. 4, 1986, pp. 441–452. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3208286.