The Dreams Of African Americans - 1352 Words

Most people grow up with a dream to become better or have more in life. Not all dreams become reality. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to make a dream come true. In the early 1950’s, it was extremely hard for an African American to have their dreams come true. A poem by Langston Hughes entitled â€Å"Harlem† describes the dreams of African Americans during this time period. Lorraine Hansberry wrote â€Å"A Raisin in the Sun† based off of this poem and it further depicts the struggles African Americans went through trying to achieve their dreams. The main characters in A Raisin in the Sun have dreams of their own, however, each stanza in the poem Harlem closely relates to what happens to these characters dreams. Many questions can be asked about the opening line of Harlem, but no one knows the true answer. Hughes posed the question â€Å"What happens to a dream deferred?† (377) to open his poem. This question makes a bold statement about the drea ms of African Americans during the early 1950’s. Due to most of America still being racially segregated and African Americans still being associated with slavery, it was more difficult for an African American to live the American Dream. In A Raisin in the Sun, Lena Younger was expecting an insurance check from when her husband died. This check made all the dreams of the characters seem as though they could finally be achievable. Lorraine Hansberry’s character Beneatha Younger, had the dream that was going take the hardest work toShow MoreRelatedAfrican American Dream1039 Words   |  5 PagesThe American dream is an elusive idea for many Americans; it allows access but does not provide equal opportunity to achieve it for every American citizen and varies wildly throughout different social classes in America. Inequality plagues society throughout these social classes, providing or denying certain opportunities throughout them. 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