Dare To Dream

Essay by sandra_j21University, Bachelor'sA+, April 2004

download word file, 6 pages 5.0

Dare To Dream

What is the American dream? Is it liberty, life, and the pursuit of happiness, or is it merely about how much money can be acquired throughout a person's existence? A RAISIN IN THE SUN depicts the power of an African-American family in the 1950's who managed to stay united through the most trying of times.

Surviving as an African-American in the 1950's was a feat in itself. Lorraine Hansberry did not sugar coat the reality of the matters that were at hand. Many people in today's society write racial prejudices off as just another reason black people have to stay "pissed off" at the whites. Until I had the wonderful opportunity to speak to a black woman who was alive during the 1950's, I myself thought that black people tried to make things sound worse than they really were. When I heard the pain in Mrs. Dorothy's voice I really began to appreciate the magnitude of how disgustingly the blacks were treated.

Mrs. Dorothy actually took the time to explain to me how she was treated. She asked me how I would have felt if I was asked to use a different bathroom just because I did not look like everyone else. She also explained to me how much it hurt to walk down the street every day and see that people would rather walk the longer route than walk on the same side of the street as a black woman. In our Declaration of Independence, Congress proclaims, "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". Yet, in the 1950's African Americans were still being treated as second class citizens. If everyone was created equal I would...