The Exclusivity of Blackness: Examining the N-Word

From major media outlets like CNN to social media controversies on Twitter there has been ample conflict around who can and can't use the N-word, or whether the term should be banned altogether. As Hip-Hop continues its reign as the dominant popular music genre and black culture continues to be commodified, discourse over the N-Word has raged on. For some, especially older, black folks the term is considered derogatory to people of African descent and should not be a part of any person's vocabulary. Colloquially, for many younger African Americans, the term holds less meaning as a slur, but is simply a part of the vernacular, or in some cases is used as a term of endearment. The term means different things to different black people depending on context and social situations.

 Hip Hop artist, Kendrick Lamar, who is known for his consciousness, comments on the use of the N-Word by black communities on the hit song "i" from his 2015 soul-infused album, To Pimp A Butterfly. At the end of his song "i," Kendrick defines his understanding of the n-word in an acapella verse saying,

"Well, this is my explanation straight from Ethiopia

N-E-G-U-S definition: royalty; King royalty - wait listen

N-E-G-U-S description: Black emperor, King, ruler, now let me finish

The history books overlook the word and hide it

America tried to make it to a house divided

The homies don't recognize we been using it wrong

So I'ma break it down and put my game in a song

N-E-G-U-S, say it with me

Or say no more. Black stars can come and get me

Take it from Oprah Winfrey, tell her she right on time

Kendrick Lamar, by far, realest Negus alive.[1]”

Kendrick chooses to define the word as an affirmation of black identity rooted in African royal ancestry. By defining the term under these terms, his intent when using the term is to be positive, demonstrating solidarity with other black folks. His understanding of the word is only one opinion and does not reflect the thoughts of all African Americans. This diversity of opinion in discussion surrounding the word is indicative of the diversity of thought among all black folks. Opinions of the word can be influenced by region, class, age, and family upbringing.

Regardless of black Americans choice to abstain or intent when using the N-word, the use of the word should be exclusive to black folks. As many non-black individuals are avid fans of hip hop and black culture, white  people constantly wonder, "Why Can't I Say it?" In some cases, white people consider it a badge of honor to be "allowed" to say the N-Word by the African American friends and peers. Some believe, because they hear it in rap music then it is okay to repeat. It's been said many times by white folks that "no one should be allowed to say it." In each way, white folks yearn for access to this aspect of black culture. As African-American author Ta-Nehisi Coates states in response to a question the N word during an event at Evanston Township High School in Illinois stating,

"When you’re white in this country, you’re taught that everything belongs to you. You think you have a right to everything. … You’re conditioned this way. It’s not because your hair is a texture or your skin is light. It’s the fact that the laws and the culture tell you this. You have a right to go where you want to go, do what you want to do, be however — and people just got to accommodate themselves to you.[2]”

In this, Coates displays how it is a function of white privilege that white folks believe they should have a right to say the n-word. Similarly, white folks who believe black people shouldn’t say the n-word either are attempting to police the speech of black folks, because they cannot have access to this portion of black culture, since they are used to owning everything, as Coates points out astutely. The practice of using the n word is exclusive to blackness, through a shared racialized experience, which is not all inclusive.

Pledged Cody Stockton.

FWC=709

---

[1] Kendrick Lamar. “i,” To Pimp a Butterfly. https://genius.com/Kendrick-lamar-i-lyrics

[2] “Ta-Nehisi Coates on words that don’t belong to everyone,” https://www.youtube.com/embed/QO15S3WC9pg.

Group 1 Final Review

Throughout the novels we have read this semester, many of the characters struggled to form an identity within a continuously oppressive environment. Racism has a way of limiting one’s identity due to it’s powerful constraints. For centuries the shackles placed both literally and figuratively on african americans continuously pounded them to the ground. As the constant scapegoats in our society, african americans have had to create an identity despite being surrounded by hostility. Because of the continuous animosity forced on them by whites, African Americans not only found a way to beat this antagonism but also created an identity through the shared suffering they endeavoured. These works of literature were crafted by extremely intelligent individuals who see this mass hardship in it’s totality. These novels both represent the beautiful shift in mentality we as a nation have gone through while also demonstrating the realities of the work we have ahead of us as a nation. Through these texts the raw actuality of racism is depicted through the restraints society has placed on the growth of  African American identity.

In A Raisin in the Sun readers are given a glimpse into African American family life demonstrating in depth the constraints placed on African Americans during the 1950s through the struggle each character faces in finding an identity. The characters Mama, Walter, and Beneatha grapple with the paradoxical world they are immersed in. On one hand as african americans in the 1950s they have much more autonomy than ever before. However, as african americans they still are very much limited by the invisible shackles of white supremacy.

As the wisest character in the play, Mama is the core of the family and represents the older generation. Mama’s wisdom and knowledge is all based on the past, therefore the world her children are immersed in is astounding to her.Mama demonstrates her insightful thoughts when she says to Beneatha, “There is always something left to love. And if you ain’t learned that, you ain’t learned nothing” (Hansberry, 145). Mama not only is addressing Beneatha but is also addressing the predominantly white crowd at the time. Mama is a product of the extremely oppressive past she struggled through. Through this pain and suffering Mama learned to value love and family above all else, forming a concrete identity through the morals she learned to hang on to.

Incredibly different from Mama, her daughter Beneatha is driven young college student who strives to become a doctor. Beneatha decides to not conform to societal ideals and to connect back to her African roots. Beneatha both strongly embraces her freedom by becoming a doctor while also cherishing the culture she whole heartedly identifies with. Beneatha’s possible love interest, George, attacks her new found love for her African heritage when saying, “Let’s face it, baby, your heritage is nothing but a bunch of raggedy-assed spirituals and some grass huts” (Hansberry 81). Beneatha is able to come to terms with her identity by rejecting George’s ideas and finding herself through her determinedness to become “something” while also embracing the rich culture she is a part of.

Lastly, Walter is considered in light terms the “man” of the house. In the beginning of the play Walter strives to find dignity and respect through an accumulation of wealth. However, after Mama buys him a house in a white neighborhood and the “Welcome Committee” wants to buy the house back from them because they do not want black people in their neighborhood, Walter comes to terms with the true meaning of being a “man.”  Walter turns down their offer saying, “We have decided to move into our house because my father… he earned it for us brick by brick...we don’t want your money” (Hansberry 148). Walter comes to understand that wealth is not a means of finding dignity or identity but rather a distraction from the true meaning of freedom. Walter comes to terms with his identity through the new found dignity he demands for his family, as the “man” of the household.

In Beloved by Toni Morrison, although in an unrealistic fashion, Morrison is able to explore some of the more brutal realities of slavery and life after. It seems throughout the novel as if the characters are finding themselves through each other. Paul D begins to find his manhood as he becomes the patriarchal figure in the household. Sethe grows attached to Beloved because she feels as if Beloved has somehow taken the place of the daughter that she had to kill to protect. Denver finds her identity through the other characters because she is able to pick up the slack when Sethe becomes less functional due to Beloved’s presence.

These characters are able to find their identities through each other because they spent so much time at Sweet Home together as a family-like unit. Paul D is able to become the man that he envisioned Halle as being by coming back to be by Sethe’s side at the end. Early on in the novel Paul D doesn’t feel as if he has much self worth, and also has a predisposition to remain unattached to those who care about him. He finds his identity by learning to be the man of the family and take care of Sethe and Denver. Sethe, in some ways, loses her identity at the hands of Beloved. As Beloved grows, Sethe begins to grow frail and weak. I think that this is a metaphor for how Sethe feels about killing her child in the first place because it shows that the more guilt and resentment that builds up inside, the more she loses herself.  Denver shows the most growth out of all the characters because she is able to get a job and rally the community in order to expel Beloved from their household. The characters of Beloved  were trapped in an institution that strips them of their identities. This novel depicts how even in unnatural circumstances, freed slaves were able to find their identities in each other and get on with their lives.

In How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America, Kiese Laymon describes the distinct struggle of growing up black in America. From the beginning, he describes that he “would be disciplined more harshly than white boys for even slightly leaning toward the wrong side” (15), emphasizing life’s difficulties for those who are born the wrong color skin into a society of institutionalized racism and culturally ingrained prejudices. As opposed to the other novels which took place in different time periods, Laymon displays through a variety of stories that blackness is not seen as valid even in our current world. When Laymon is called a racial slur by drunk fraternity brothers, he writes in a heartbreaking fashion that “I think and feel a lot but mostly I feel that I can’t do anything to make the boys feel like they’ve made us feel right there” (39). His mother reminds him time and time again that he was “born on parole” (43) and that any misstep could be deadly. How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America reminds us that no matter how far we have come in race relations, we still have an incredibly difficult uphill battle toward equality in our society.

The various novels all display the distinct ways in which blackness is constrained and degraded in American culture, from the post-slavery time period of Beloved to the painful, present-day struggles of Kiese Laymon. Black Americans are forced to fight twice as hard to earn the rights that are meant to be guaranteed to all Americans. The limits of identity for Black folk cause issues that affect their everyday lives, and the institutionalized racism they experience as a result of hundreds of years of systemic oppression, creates the confines of their world.

In Plum Bun by Toni Morrison the main character Angela, a light skinned women from philadelphia, is able to live two separate lives because of her skin tone. While with her mother, she’s able to live as if she was white and witnesses how blacks are viewed in white society. As a result, when she is home and at church she begins to view African Americans as lesser than white people. Angela also begins to struggle with the disappointment of missing out on opportunities in her career path after revealing that she is colored. This leads to her to abandoning her family and essentially her colored identity in order to further her success.

After years of passing as white Angela finds herself unsatisfied with the life she chose. Although passing as white gave her an advantage over her black counterparts, she still faced challenges because she was a women. After realizing that she couldn’t relate to the white community she attempted to join, Angela starts to miss her family and her black culture that she abandoned.  Although Angela has proved her worth to society when she passed as a white woman, she must choose whether to return to her black culture or further career, because of the racial restraints placed on African Americans.

Final Group Review Group 2

Katherine Hancock, Christal Scott, Kayla Chavis, Jonathan Clarke, Malik Thompson

Final Group Review

May 2, 2016

History 105.05

            From slavery to reconstruction, to the Harlem Renaissance to the Civil Rights period, and from then until today, the identity of the African descendant has changed drastically over time. This change has been produced by the ill treatment of the community as a whole, and living in a society where the Negro is considered a second-class citizen. Through oppression, however, black identity will find ways to break through, because it always has.

The black identity in America begins with the history of slavery. The slave was identified as property by the slaveholders; therefore, slaves were stripped of an identity completely. Legislation and court had molded a false identity for black slaves. Cases like the State of Missouri v. Celia and George v. State established that there would be no protection of black female slaves against rape. This had caused the black woman to be identified with lasciviousness.

Black people would also be falsely identified with being criminals thanks to the Fugitive Slaves Laws. These had pronounced the slave as living property; therefore, if a slave ran away they were a criminal for life. The dehumanization and diversity of the slave would also influence the identity of early black lives in America. With the Three-Fifths Compromise, the government had degraded the black slave to three-fifths of a human, stealing their humanity from them. The experience in slavery had impacted each slave and former slave’s identity differently. “Owners dictated where and how the slaves lived, how they worked and played, and with whom they associated. Slaves learned this fact early in their lives, and their owners never let them forget it.”[1] Each character from Toni Morrison’s Beloved experienced something different during slavery that had stunted the formation of their identity. Their identities had been tainted with the false perception that slavery had labeled them. Slaveholders had used their authority as justification for the torment and suffering that has unfortunately defined early black life in America.

            The next major time period for African Americans was the Reconstruction period, which was after the Emancipation Proclamation and the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, spanning from about 1866 to 1877. African Americans were no longer legal property; however, white society continued to treat them as second class humans because of the Black Codes, which were laws that limited black peoples’ agencies and opportunities (such as economic and job-wise). Though black people were able to gain a new identity other than that of property, it was still hard to feel like completely free individuals because the class of Southern white elites reconstructed society to place African Americans underneath them.

Community identity shifted as early as Emancipation Day, when ex-slaves gathered to celebrate the formal end of their legalized bondage. However, the irony of such celebrations and memorials shows how the community still felt the oppression of a constrictive white society. As said in Envisioning Emapncipation, “Images of Emancipation Day celebrations and ‘slave reunions’ stand out, both for the ways in which they directly engage the history of slavery and freedom and for the ways they veil or obscure elements of that history.”[2] The freedom that black people celebrated was paradoxical because they were still very constrained by white society. Additionally, white society was made out to be the benevolent figure in the freedom of slaves, not the force that failed to recognize the basic human right of all people. That is shown by a picture in Envisioning Emancipation where a black child is photographed before and after emancipation. Before and after Proclamation pictures of an African American boy show him “obligingly performing the appropriate responses for the intended Southern audience.”[3] These sources show that the identity of black people was still manipulated by the oppression of whites, although they were no longer property. However, this freedom was the first step for black people to find an identity outside of white control.

In 1917, the United States entered what would become known as World War 1. Thousands of African American men volunteered to defend and die for a country that viewed them as second-class citizens. During the war, European immigration virtually ceased and northern industries needed unskilled labor for their factories. The American south after reconstruction was a terrible place for African Americans. Between Jim Crow laws and the rise of the KKK, the south was a violent and dangerous place for blacks.

After Reconstruction, a rebirth in black culture sparked the Harlem Renaissance. When blacks arrived in the city, they were not welcomed with open arms. They were corralled into ghettos, most notably Harlem in New York, and surrounded by white people who though blacks were there to take their jobs. They reacted negatively and sometimes violently. In order to combat the negative stereotypes presented in the media, African Americans came together and created their own institutions, music, art, literature, and theatre. This cultural movement would later be called the Harlem Renaissance.

The Harlem Renaissance created a racial pride within the African American community that had never been seen before. Pride in the community fomented thanks to black cultural icons such as Louis Armstrong, Jessie Redmond Fauset, Langston Hughes, and Josephine Baker. African American children had black role models to look up to. This is something they had really not had before. A term often used in conversation about the Harlem Renaissance is the New Negro. The New Negro had left the southern life for the northern, the rural life to urban, and the uneducated life for the educated. The racial pride created in this movement was the catalyst for the civil rights movement.

Identity shifts within the Civil Rights era began to reach an all-time high. Those that were away serving the country came back in the mindset that things would be different for the African American community. Stereotypes continued to be the main ammo for the white community in order to maintain their segregated traditions. From the enslavement era, stereotypes went from being broad assumptions of the black community being inferior to more specific accusations of the New Negro that asserted his or her autonomy such as lazy, uneducated, and unmotivated. To white society, African Americans had quickly gone from hard working, sturdy, and strong pieces of property to a populace that did not work for what they wanted. As we continue through this era, we also begin to see this stereotype shift of the African American community within the realm of housing. The black community began to have new tags on themselves, by being identified as a people that tend to cause trouble and who wanted to threaten what white society had already claimed.

Racial discrimination began to increase within the housing market rapidly. Not only did it place a new way to view African Americans, but it also shifted the identity of white America as well in retrospect of violence. It seemed that the more the African American population gained some form of autonomy, the more violent the white community grew. African American identity shifted even more when it came to education and equality in the social dynamics, because the face for the fight for equality became very youthful. College students began protesting and forming sit ins to speak up for themselves and the rest of their people, giving off an image that they will no longer tolerate this negative identity that they have been given since the beginning of time. The youth were setting a new identity of empowerment and fight within the African American community then and now.

Tracing through African American history and the progression through slavery, segregation and several other forms of institutional nation wide racism gives a comprehensive bird’s eye view. What this view lacks is the Black experience through the trauma, and the genuine psychological and mental impact that this system has on the people. Those aspects are largely overlooked as parts of this systemic oppressive system that we confront on a daily basis. The willful ignorance to the magnitude of this pain is perpetuated by people of all races because understanding our history is a painful and exhausting process. Honest conversations about the past are evidently difficult to manage, yet when writers such as Kiese Laymon and Toni Morrison can create a brutal and honest imagery there leaves choice but to confront the discomfort. Laymon’s How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America was intended to break the stereotypical literary trends in order to draw attention to the aspects of modern day racism from a perspective that is less well understood. “I wanted to explore the benefits and burdens of being born a black boy in America without the predictable literary rigidity.”[4] Throughout his book one of the essential points is that racism is a part of daily life and that has to be accepted as an African American, the next step is how to deal with it. Today we understand that we have made much progress from times that Morrison has written about because we do not walk around with the physical scars of slavery on our backs. However the weight of slavery is still a very real burden today, which proves that there is more uphill battle before equality is achieved.

The African American identity has always been a very difficult term to define because of it’s internal duality and also the many conflicting views and opinions on the matter. We can understand how the term and the people have progressed through the different forms of struggle and oppression placed on the group. Yet the difficulty of accepting the harsh realities of the past is an essential step, of many more to be made, in order to achieve equality for a group of people who have never had any form of firmly established liberty in this country.

---

[1] Berlin, Ira, Marc Favreau, and Steven F. Miller, Remembering Slavery: African Americans Talk about Their Personal Experiences of Slavery and Emancipation (New York: New, 1998), 3.

[2] [2] Willis, Deborah, and Barbara Krauthamer. Envisioning Emancipation: Black Americans and the End of Slavery. (Temple University Press, 2012), 130.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Laymon, Kiese. How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America: Essays. (Chicago, 2013) 11-13

Group 2 post 4/21

A major theme in How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America was the theme of "the worst of white folks." This idea of Laymon's is that even though not every white person is a member of the KKK or outwardly and explicitly telling black people they want the worst for them, white people are still responsible when they could take ownership of a racist situation and still don't. For example, if a friend tells a racist joke and you don't point out the wrong in it, you are responsible because you have "ducked responsibility" as Laymon says (32). Laymon says that he is even guilty of shirking this responsibility when he could have invited his cousin Jermaine to stay with him and get out of a bad neighborhood of Chicago, but never reached out. Though he is black and doesn't fall into the category of "the worst of white folks" he still maintained his own comfort instead of changing a situation of a family member for the better. This theme is interesting especially when paired with Baldwin's essay, "Stranger in the Village" because it shows how white people have and treasure a "jewel of naiveté" even though most don't truly want bad things to happen to African Americans.

Another theme that was incredibly moving in How to Slowly Kill Yourself was the idea that white people constantly put black people into "boxes" of stereotypes ever since the beginning of colonization. For example, Laymon's neighbor, Kurt, said he should move to Pennsylvania because he "ain't like his kind" (51). This offended Laymon immensely, and rightly so, because it shows the expectation that so many white people have for African Americans. In class we talked about the idea that black people have to be "twice as good" as white people to get half the credit or credibility. This idea was played out in Laymon's retelling of this instance with his white neighbor--the neighbor was a bad parent, a cheater on his wife, and had less responsibility (academic, financial, professional) than Laymon, but he still acted above and authoritative of Laymon's worth just because Laymon did more than he expected black men are capable of.  

Group 4: Kiese Laymon

Major Themes:

• Family
• Pain
• Societal constructs
• Popular Culture
• Internal Conflict

Kiese Laymons’ compilation of essays How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America reflects the contemporary pain and anguish felt by millions of African-Americans in America, particularly in the South.  As these self-reflective essays entail him and his families personal life experience, we are able to witness first hand through personal anecdotes the complexity of the identity of African-Americans in modern society.  Common themes seen through these essays include the novel representation of black families of the 21st centuries, the common pain felt throughout the black community facing the restraints of oppression in American culture and the long-standing societal constructs that continue to negatively impact African-Americans.  This collection of essays is a reflection of the realities of the African - American populous in America, and forces reader to grapple with the multifaceted ideals that encompass our society.  

In How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America, Kiese Laymon grapples with the barriers that African Americans face on a daily basis.  In this collection of essays, Laymon provides insight to his life as an oppressed African American individual and highlights the things in his life that stood in the way of his success, such as societal constructs.  Throughout Kiese Laymon’s childhood, he was faced with deep racism.  Laymon had to figure out that specific individuals living in society were trapped in a history they did not understand.  As a black man, KIese was constantly faced with many challenges that he had to overcome in order to become successful in a society that did not want to see black people prosper.

As Laymon interprets the contemporary moment, he uses popular culture to analyze the effect of societal constructs on individuals and the people around them. He does this by critiquing one of Kanye West’s most critically acclaimed albums, My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy. In this modern era, Hip Hop is central to popular culture. It is widely purchased and listened to by youth. As Kanye does produce magnificent art, Laymon believes that Kanye should use his agency to positively portray and represent black women. Kanye West has been a constant advocate for the plights of underrepresented populations, even on national stages; however when it comes to women in his music, West often succumbs to the misogynistic culture of hip hop, while also furthering the negative societal construct of women in hip hop, particularly black women.

Additionally, this causes Laymon to self reflect and realize the effect his behaviors on women around him. Even though he realized that societal constructs and people continue to marginalize women, it is difficult for him to acknowledge publicly, or to himself the wrong he has done. This is a reflection of our patriarchal society. It also demonstrates how even after we realize the wrong  done, we often operate under a warped innocence, much like we do when realizing the effects of racism on American society.

Group 1

While there are many themes that run throughout the first and second Acts of A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry there are a few that seem to stand out. One of these themes is the constant reminder that many of these character’s have unfulfilled dreams. The second is the prevalence of money and how it affects the characters’ lives, especially in lieu of their father’s life insurance check. The third is how many of those dreams seem to be materialistic, which may foreshadow a potential “family is what’s most important” reconciliation among the characters. Among all of them, these three themes remain constant throughout these latest readings in class.

The first relevant theme is the constant reminder that all of these characters have unfulfilled dreams. With Walter it’s his liquor store, for Beneatha her studies of medicine, and for Mama it is she and her late husbands dream of owning a nice middle-class home. Everyone in the household has some greater goal that they wish to achieve but seem to have some sort of barrier holding them back whether it be money, work-ethic, or the racial tension at the time. Their father’s life insurance check is seen as a saving grace to these characters as well as a way to break down the barriers that have held them back up to this point.

In A Raisin in the Sun money seems to be one of the most discussed topics throughout the play. Money looms over each character's dreams, once again confining them to the simple life the oppression in America gave them. Walter is desperate for the money his mother gains, yearning to create a new life for his family. Yet, what Walter does not understand is that by trying to become something of himself, he also brings his family down with him. The constraints built by discrimination confines all the characters to a life that deviates from what is truly important; family. Perhaps Walter’s fight for a new life of money and materialistic things allows for the family to fight for a “place” within their constraints. But, at the same time, the prevalence of money in their family also tears them apart. In a fit of anger Walter screams to Ruth saying, “we all tied up in a race of people that don’t know how to do nothing but moan, pray and have babies!” (Hansberry 87). Walter strives to find some solidarity by breaking this “tied up” race, yet is only consolation is the money in his future, rather than the people surrounding him.

Lorraine Hansberry creates a textual climate in which a poor Chicago family is constrained by race, and yet also displays the complexities of familial relationships that white Americans can relate to. Themes of unfulfilled dreams, the pursuit of material success, and the lure of money pervade the narrative and partially obscure the bonds between characters. Through bringing to light not only the problem of race but the inner struggles of family life, Hansberry reveals the commonalities of people and imbues her play with a raw emotionality rife with humanity.

Group 4

Major Themes:

• Gender constructs
• Greed
• Community
• Family
• Fear
• Racism
• Struggle

A Raisin in the Sun

The play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry highlights the time period in American History that preceded the National Civil Rights movement.  A few of the many themes surrounding the atmosphere in this time period included those of gender constructs, community, racism and greed.  Gender constructs in this time were extremely patriarchal.  Women were not yet integrated into the mainstream workforce yet, especially African - American women.  Besides simple domestic labor, such as cleaning houses or caring for children, women were not expected to have career goals, which spoke to the stigma of unintelligence and inferiority of women during that time.  This is exemplified in the text as an intelligent and capable young woman, Beneatha, is questioned and looked down upon about her ambitions of becoming a doctor; “Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor...go be a nurse like other women-or just get married and be quite…” (Hansberry, 38).  The oppression that all women faced during this time period was unjust and ignorant, and forces the reader to reflect on how far women have come present day, but also evokes the everlasting reminder of how far women have left to go.

A Raisin in the Sun is about a family’s struggle in Chicago.  Lorraine Hansberry ‘s title originates from one of Langston Hughes poem, which states, “What happens to a dream deferred?  Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”  This play was released at a time in which the American people were ready for change. A Raisin in the Sun offers insight to what that change is going to be.  This play also reveals the larger question of what holds a family together?  Throughout the play, Lorraine Hansberry shows us that it is love and dignity that hold this family together and allow this family to move forward with their lives.  Hansberry brilliantly investigates the central idea that African Americans are human, which has never been portrayed on a broadway stage.  And by doing so, Lorraine Hansberry allows African Americans to see their full humanity.

As A Raisin in the Sun, exposes what real black life is like during the Civil Rights Era, it is important to understand the dynamic of black families, the Youngers in particular. As they have moved from the South to the North pursuing a new life, it is difficult for the individuals within the black community to understand the difference in way of life. For example, as Walter and his mother argue about money, one comes to realize how ideals change according to circumstance. As Walter insists that money is life, Mama responds, “ So now it’s life. Money is life. Once upon a time freedom used to be life-now it’s money. I guess the world really do change..” (Hansberry 74). Walter insists, “ No-it was always money, Mama. We just didn’t know about it.” At this poignant point in the book Walter makes an excellent point, though he is often portrayed as unrealistic and obstinate. Life has changed for African American people. Their sole focus was freedom, because they were constrained by slavery in the past, but that is challenging for Mama to see as she belongs to an older generation. Also, in Walter pointing out that money has always been life but African Americans just didn't know about it, he realizes that slavery was all about money in the first place. However, even though he dreams to be a powerful businessman, his dream is deferred because of his lack of education and poor economic background in addition to racism. This is the cause of a lot of Walter’s frustration and many other blacks. Though they are free, they still feel constrained by their blackness and an obviously racist society and are not treated equally.