A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech both conveyed the struggles endured by Africa Americans. A Raisin in the Sun is a fictional story about a colored family whose chance to improve their life became a reality with a life insurance check worth a large amount of money. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in front of thousands of people, as he pleaded for equal rights for all Americans. They both show how African Americans would do everything they could to have justice and their right to a better life. The similarities between these pieces are expressed by themes of living in poverty, seeking the American dream, and facing racial injustice.
Poverty affects many people living in America daily, however African Americans during the time period with segregation experienced the trouble of being stuck in a state of poverty and struggling to live their lives peacefully. Martin Luther King Jr. said,” One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.” He believed that the ability to progress is possible, but the colored community was unable to do so because of the oppression they had been going through. The poverty of the family in A Raisin in the Sun, the Youngers, was revealed in their overcrowded apartment, which wasn’t large enough for the whole family to live comfortably, especially with Ruth’s baby on the way. The family worked demeaning jobs, such as Walter driving white people and Mama doing domestic work for white families. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” The Younger family experienced such hardships since it was difficult to find less demeaning jobs that would be suitable and provide enough for their family.
The dreams of many...

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