Essay on Who Am I Racial Identity in A Raisin in the Sun

Growing up as a child during the 1970s in Lynwood, a predominantly African American neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, I never realized the differences between my playmates and myself. Although my mother and I eventually moved to the suburbs, my father remained there. However, it was not until late childhood, while visiting my father on weekends, that I began to differentiate between my friends and myself. Maybe the piercing stares and turned heads at the neighborhood market led to this discovery. Or perhaps the racial epithets exchanged in anger between childhood friends made the differences obvious. But, more than anything else, I attribute my discovery to the disparaging nickname given to me. They referred to me as†¦show more content†¦Contrary to public perception, Raisin sought to convey â€Å"the essence of black people’s striving and the will to defeat segregation, discrimination, and national oppression† (10). However, it did so through the use of characters that defied the predominant stereotypes and communicated to a black audience, images that promoted a sense of pride and dignity in being African American. When A Raisin in the Sun premiered on Broadway in 1959, segregation not only occurred in the South, with its widely known and easily recognizable segregated buses, lunch counters, schools and water fountains, but it also existed in more subtle forms throughout the rest of the country. In the North, restrictive housing covenants and zoning laws enabled suburban residents to â€Å"insure that only members of acceptable social classes could settle in their privileged sanctuaries,† thereby effectively prohibiting access to â€Å"blacks and people of limited means† (Jackson 242). African Americans who challenged restricted neighborhoods found that not only were they â€Å"not welcome,† but they also lived in fear that â€Å"something cataclysmic† might occur (Wiese 100). Such events were not un common, as evidenced by the playwright’s personal experience. In 1938, when theShow MoreRelatedRacial Identity in A Raisin in the Sun: Who Am I?1102 Words   |  5 Pagesnever occurred to me. Although my mother and I eventually moved to the suburbs, my father remained there well into my adulthood. However, it was not until late childhood, while visiting my father on weekends, that I started to differentiate between my friends and myself, and my father’s home and my home. The realization I was different may have come about because of the piercing stares and turned heads at the neighborhood market. Or perhaps it was the racial epithets exchanged in anger between childhoodRead MoreRacial Disccrimination in a Raisin in the Sun Essay868 Words   |  4 PagesThe late 1950s was filled with racial discriminations. There was still sections living as well as public signs of Colored and Whites. Blacks and Whites were not for any change or at least not yet. 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