Obasan Essay, Research Paper

Racism is a very harsh and uncontrollable aspect of everyday life in societies across the world. Consequently racism is an unforgiving way of life that is very hard for all walks of people to deal with. No culture has felt the wrath of this social disease more then the Africans, when they were brought to this expanding continent as slaves. The idea of being brought over to North America as an object was, and is; a very delicate subject, as described by Du Bois, The essence of this kinship is it s social heritage of slavery; the discrimination and insults; and this heritage binds together not simply the children of Africa, but extends though yellow Asia and into the South Seas. It is this unity that draws me to Africa (Du Bois qtd in Gerald, 4). The way that the Africans dealt with this subject, and the unity they developed as a result, combined to overcome this horrible situation, is a major part of how Africans view the world today. The way that these people endured, and eventually conquered this enormous difficulty, provided the societal framework for how their people would continue their lives. Lorraine Hansberry displays this phenomenon in her work, A Raisin In The Sun . The characters that Hansberry develops become very good insight into the social problems that occurred as a result of the severe conditions that were forced upon these African Americans. With these harsh conditions hanging over the heads of the people that it had affected, the philosophy of Afrocentrism was developed as a method to contend with the diminishing identity of these African Americans. Afrocentrism is defined by Abu Shardow Abarry as that any meaningful and authentic study of peoples of African descent must begin and proceed with Africa as the center, not periphery; as subject, not object. This phenomenon works parallel with Hansberry s A Raisin In The Sun , in the fact that the characters in this play suffer from an identity crisis, as they are black people living in a white America. This idea of a white America is often referred to as Eurocentrism. Gerald Early describes this paradigm as a model that is directly proportional to the philosophy of Afrocentrism, So it tries to make Africa for black Americans the equivalent of what Europe is for white Americans: the source of civilization , (5). Throughout the story this idea is developed as the Youngers strive to achieve the social standards that they feel they deserve. They feel cheated as they cannot seem to succeed, although the world is there for them to seize, Sometimes it s like I can see the future stretched out in front of me-just as plain as day. The future, Mama. Just waiting for me , (Hansberry 1832). These circumstances were not facilitated by the living conditions that the Youngers were situated in.

The setting of this piece of literature plays an important role in the understanding of how difficult it was to overcome these circumstances. The play is set in Chicago s Southside, sometime between World War Two and the present. During this era the Southside was a harsh and unforgiving place that was designated for black people. This area was plagued with poverty, drugs, violence, and an illusion of no escape.