Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

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Predominantly black, low-income neighborhoods are much more likely to have carry-out liquor stores than predominantly white or racially integrated neighborhoods. However, studies by Johns Hopkins University of high-income Baltimore with a high percentage of black residents showed no increase of carry-out liquor stores. Thomas A. LaVeist, PhD, from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, stated, "Our data reveals an intersection of race and income status that places low-income African-American communities at greater risk for alcohol availability through off-premises liquor stores. Such stores have been shown to be an important component of the social infrastructure that destabilizes communities." Such evidence showing that these liquor stores have a negative effect on neighborhoods is exactly why Lena Younger, a character in the play, “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, opposed her son Walter’s liquor store scheme. “A Raisin in the Sun” takes place during the 1950’s, in Southside Chicago. During this era, segregation was still legal in the South. In the Northern states, such as Illinois,…show more content…
He wants to be rich, so he devises a plan to acquire money with his friends, particularly Willy Harris. They decide that they want to invest in a new liquor store venture, as liquor stores in impoverished neighborhoods are usually fairly successful. Why this is the case will be explained later on. When Lena’s husband dies, she gets a check for $10,000 from insurance, and Walter wants to use it to invest in the liquor store. Lena, however, strongly opposes this because of the effect of liquor stores on their neighborhood. Lena is a devout Christian, she is a very religious and moral person, and does not wish to invest in the a liquor store because she knows the trouble caused by alcohol. If she were to invest in the store, she would be helping to sell alcohol to the mass of people
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