Discrimination in Literature

Discrimination is the unfair treatment of a person or group of people based on prejudice. In American history, African Americans were subjected to great oppression and discrimination. The injustices visited upon Blacks came to a head during the 1950s and 1960s, leading to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1965. Prior to this, oppression, violence, and discrimination were routine for Blacks in American society. This history of discrimination is captured in a variety of works of art, including Langston Hughes' poem "Harlem," Dudley Randall's poem "Ballad of Birmingham," and Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun." In all three of these works, we see the heavy price paid by African Americans due to living in a discriminatory white society. This analysis will illustrate discrimination as it appears in each of these works, highlighting differences and similarities.

When Langston Hughes wrote "Harlem," African Americans were subjected to segregation and discrimination in American society. Opportunities in housing, employment, education, and other aspects of society were routinely denied to African Americans. However, Hughes does not speak of discrimination overtly in the poem. Instead, he uses the symbolism of a "dream deferred" to represent how African American dreams are often quashed by discrimination and prejudice of whites (Hughes 1). In the poem, Hughes wonders what happens to such a dream. The speaker in "Harlem" imagines dreams might be

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daughter will get shot by white police officers if she sends her to play outside. By the time Lorraine Hansberry wrote "A Raisin in the Sun," African Americans still faced discrimination in American society, but in more subtle ways than the discrimination experienced by Hughes or Randall. Instead of outright violence or terrorism, the Younger family faces more covert forms of racism, from being unable to get a business loan to being discriminated against when trying to seek opportunity. Discrimination in Hansberry's era often took the form of housing, employment, or other forms that were more subtle than violence or laws that codified prejudice like Jim Crow laws. Because of this, we see the Younger family is hoping to advance socially by purchasing a home. Discrimination in the play is clear when the white Homeowner's Association representative tries to keep the Younger family from moving into the neighborhood. If Walter accepts the bribe, we are told he will be denying his family "sunshine" and "won't have nothing left then" (Hansberry 128). Mama knows better. She is bitterly criticized by Walter, but even when he loses money in a fraudulent business deal, Mama knows in a discriminatory world they must endure ag

Category: Literature - D