Housing Discrimination In A Raisin In The Sun By Lorraine Hansberry

A new national poll issued by the Episcopal Church has found that 98 percent off all Americans feel that there is at least some discrimination in the United States today. In addition, African-Americans are three times as likely as whites to feel there is a “great deal” of discrimination (Episcopal Church). Many blacks are discriminated for simply the color of their skin and being African American. Countless African Americans find it hard to obtain housing without being discriminated for it. Although the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry was written in 1959 and set in the 1950s, many themes and issues are still prevalent in today 's society. The themes and issues of housing discrimination and purely prejudice itself are extremely …show more content…
African Americans are discriminated against for housing issues even with all of the improvements and advances in social society. Lindner arrives at the apartment and unsuccessfully tries to persuade the family to not move into his all-white neighborhood, “At the moment the overwhelming majority of our people out there feel that people get along better, take more of a common interest in the life of the community, when they share a common background. I want you to believe me when I tell you that race prejudice simply doesn 't enter into it” (Hansberry 553). Lindner is discriminating the Younger family based solely on their race; he does not even know the family and he is rudely requesting them to not move in. When Lindner tells the family they would get along better with people of their own race, he is secluding them and putting the entire family into their own category away from him and everyone in the neighborhood; this is extreme prejudice. The fact that Lindner added in that race is not the reason he is asking them to not move in, goes to show that race pretty much is the driving factor for him asking the family to not move into his neighborhood. Lindner persistently tries to get the family to not move into his community, “Our association is prepared, through the collective effort of our people, to buy the house from you at a financial gain to you family” (Hansberry 553). Lindner is displaying the theme of housing discrimination by trying to not have the Younger family move into the house they want to. The entire neighborhood is white and they are terrified to have a black family move in, because of this everyone living in the neighborhood is more than willing to buy the house off of the Younger family. The entire area is joining in on the discriminatory act and in turn they are all participating in racial housing prejudice. According to a study