A View of Prejudice as Described in Lorraine Hansberry’s Play, A Raisin In The Sun

A View of Prejudice as Described in Lorraine Hansberry’s Play, A Raisin In The Sun A Raisin in the Sun A raisin in the sun is a play about an African American family that is going to receive an inheritance because of a death in the family. In this play their is sexism, racism, and many other cultural differences that we might not have been able to see if we were not in the minority until this play. The African American family in this play is the Younger family there are five youngers living in one small apartment. I think the most important family member is Mama, she is the glue to the whole family and keeps everyone in line. Then theres Walter lee Younger which is mamas son he works as a chauffeur and thinks he is head of the household. Walters wifes name is Ruth she usually minds her own business more than the rest of the family. Mamas daughters name is Beneatha younger she is an aspiring doctor and she knows she can do it even with her being an African American woman. Then theres the youngest which you do not really hear a lot about he is walter and ruths son his name is travis all he wants to do is have a real house. A Raisin in the Sun is a play about the Younger family and it is based in the 1950s while racism and sexism were still taken very serious by many. The Youngers are about to receive an insurance check for ten-thousand dollars which was a lot back in the 1950s. they are receiving this check because Mr. Younger mamas husband died and left them money to take care of themselves because he worked until the day he died. Everyone in the younger family want something different out of the inheritance money. Mama wants to buy a house where her family will not have to struggle anymore. Mamas son walter wants to buy a liquor store with his friends so he can give the family everything they need. Beneatha who wants to become a doctor wants the money to go towards her schooling so she can help people and prove everyone wrong. Ruth and Travis do not really want anything specific but, everyone to be happy. Ruth finds out that she is pregnant with walters second child which they dont have any room for and beenie says â€Å"where is he going to sleep the roof† and ruth gets sad and almost passes out. this shows that they are all under a lot of stress and ruth feels guilty for having another baby. While mama and beenie know about the baby walter doesnt find out until later when beenies friend from africa comes over and they go in the room. Beneatha has a friend from africa bring her things from his homeland so she feels like she is finding her true self which is saying that she doesnt know who she really is and she is supposed to be the one with the strong mind on her shoulders. When the inheritance arrives walter is has a nervous breakdown and leaves the house for a week or so and mama goes looking for him. mama doesnt like seeing her son sad so she eventually ends up giving walter half the money saying to put two thousand in a bank account for bennie his younger sisters schooling and to keep the rest for himself. the money that mama gave walter never gets put into a bank account and ends up getting stolen by his friend Willy Harris.Walter never gets to accomplish his dream of having a liquor store. Meanwhile when walter was losing over half of the inheritance money mama is buying a house that will fit their needs, is in a good neighborhood, and is in her budget. The house that she picks isnt in an African American neighborhood and so she gets a visit from the welcoming committee. A man named Mr. Karl Linder is the welcoming committee and at first the Youngers think he is a nice man and that he wants to help but, then they find out that he only wants to pay them off to not live in the white neighborhood. the white man says that he doesnt want to ruin the block with how much the people who live their work for what they have by â€Å"certain kind of people moving in†. This causes the Youngers to become closer and move in to the new house. Throughout the play their are times that i wondered why would or rather how could people be so set on ruining other peoples lives. I grew up with many different raced people around me throughout my life so i will never fully understand the thought process of racist people. The Youngers seem to be portrayed as hard working people and they want whats best for their family it doesnt make a difference what color they are i would of still watched it the same with no judgement. Racism in the housing industry has been peppered with racism even up into modern times. The racism that is in the housing industry today are not only Towards African Americans its hispanics, whites, and any race. White people can be put out of their house by hispanics that are in gangs and even by other white people throughout the united states. But, most of the racism is pointed toward hispanics and how everyone thinks if you are colored you need to be a gang member of if you dress a certain way you are a gang member. We see it everyday on the news how police officers are even racist and arrest people for no reason. No one knows it happens in the communities also. I have seen people get shot of badly hurt by people that are supposedly protecting their community, Everyone is a victim of some kind of racism in their life even when we are younger. I do not think that people should not feel safe in their own home because of neighborhood racism. In the CBS news Ilyce Glink says Although weve come a long way from blatant, in-your-face housing injustice, racial discrimination still exists, said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. Just because its become less obvious doesnt mean that its less harmful. This statement is completely true many people die because of community racism. Racism in A Raisin in the Sun is almost sickening to most people and i hope that more people see this play to help spread the word about how African American people were treated in the 1950s. Racism is still alive today through communities that want one color out of their neighborhood which is not right either. I hope people eventually learn how not to be racist.

Teen smoking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Teen smoking - Essay Example As a child, I remember waking up to my father coughing uncontrollably. I would always dutifully ask if he was okay, to which he answered yes, silencing any of my lingering objections. What could I have done differently? After reflecting on my fathers death, I have come to realize that if the laws were written in such a way to impose severe punishment upon teenage smokers, no one else would have to die from this slow-killing diseases. With laws in place to catch early users before they become life-time users, a multitude of future smokers would be avoided due to such laws. Why not treat cigarette smoking like one would treat alcohol use ? Our laws governing alcohol use is such that no one under the age of 21 can buy or consume alcohol Similarly, if an adult over the age of 21 facilitates a minor with alcohol, they can be charged and fined up to $1,000 for each minor that they outfitted with alcohol. If a teenager spends a night in jail for smoking illegally, then perhaps he or she would think twice about ever picking up a cigarette again. Additionally, the tacking on of fines to a minor who has used a fake ID or a proxy to ascertain cigarettes. Usually when someone is forced to pay a fine for a misdemeanor or is placed on probation, their likelihood of doing the same thing again becomes minimal. Alternatively, perhaps the police should fine the teenager. In â€Å"Teen Smokers Should Worry About Fines,† Eric Zorn suggests, "This isnt a new idea. PUP laws-so named because they ban the purchase, use and possession tobacco by minors-have been around for decades. Chicagos dates to 1992 and calls for a $25 fine for the first offense"(1) Certainly if these fines are the law, Ive never been aware of it - principally because the cops do not enforce the statutes. In the Zorn article, Professor Leonard from DePaul University in Chicago reveals that if the PUP laws had been successfully enforced, numerous teenagers would have quit long ago - or perhaps

Chapter 8-9 SA Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Chapter 8-9 SA - Assignment Example This self assessment test 2 is used to evaluate the atmosphere for creativity. The evaluation is meant to single out various situations in an organization that encourage the employees to be more creative in work. The measure of the environment for creativity shows the level of support the management and organization gives the employees for inventiveness and innovation. The test value of cumulative numbers is then compared to the values of the continuum. A continuum is provided at the end of the assessment test with numbers indicating different values that indicate the level of support offered. A high score indicates that the organization is very supportive of the employees’ creativity and innovation. Therefore, our organization has an average support for employees’ creativity and innovation. These exercises help the students to relate their work surroundings to the ideas in ways that other people can gain from the experience they have (Lussier & Achua, 2010). This self assessment test 3 is used to evaluate the personal traits and teams that can affect the team work of an individual. The first personality profile reviewed can be; I enjoy being part of a team and working with others more than working alone. The scales given to this profile could be 1 to 7, with 7 illustrating strongly agreeing to the profile while 1 illustrating strongly disagreeing to the personality profile. The second profile reviewed is, I enjoy accomplishing team goals more than individual accomplishments, given scales from 1 to 7. 7 will illustrate strongly agreeing to this statement while 1 illustrates strongly disagreeing to the same statement. From these two statements, we can deduce that the stronger you agree with them the higher the probability of being a good team player. On the other hand, lower scores do not exactly mean that you are not a good team player. The Big Five personality dimensions and their related motive needs can influence your team