A RAISIN IN THE SUN—ALMOST FIFTY YEARS LATER.

A RAISIN IN THE SUN—ALMOST FIFTY YEARS LATER. Over the weekend, we saw a stunning production of A RAISIN IN THE SUN at the Darien Arts Center—wonderful performances, wonderful direction. I saw the play in the Chicago area many years ago, and seeing it again brought additional power to the experience. Mary Jane was seeing it for the first time. We both marveled at what a great play it is and at how much was lost when Lorraine Hansberry died young. The play brought back memories, and provoked thoughts of how so many things have not changed (We saw the play in a white suburban enclave). The end of the play shows the Younger family preparing to move in to an all white suburb. I commented to Mary Jane that this constituted a problematic happy ending. It turns out that was an understatement. I have now read this Wikipedia article which tells about how, when Hansberry was a child, the Hansberry family bought a house in what Lorraine Hansberry called a “hellishly hostile white neighborhood.” They faced protracted litigation (their case involving restrictive racial covenants went to the United States Supreme Court in 1940 when Hansberry was ten). Hansberry’s mother carried a loaded pistol when guarding the family at night. Hansberry as a child faced “howling mobs” surrounding the house at night and “being spat at, cursed and pummeled in the daily trek to and from school.”