Inequalities In A Raisin In The Sun

“Human rights are not only violated by terrorism, repression or assassination, but also by unfair economic structures that creates huge inequalities” (Pope Francis). When it comes to terrorism all across the globe, people are highly concerned; however, when it comes to socioeconomic inequality concentrated within their own cities, people are ignorant. Pope Francis compares economic inequalities to terrorism, repression, or assassination, because each of those violates human rights. To some people, this comparison may seem too extreme, but in reality it is not unreasonable. Our country has taken many measures to prevent terrorist attacks, yet we have turned a blind eye to our own citizens who are homeless or in poverty. If anything, we contributed
to this happening in the first place. There are countless works of literature that elaborate upon racism and resulting economic inequality that can help us to be aware of, understand, and hopefully put forth effort to make a change. In the city of Chicago alone there is vast socioeconomic inequality. There is a high homeless and poverty population, most of which is African American.
African Americans are a minority in Chicago’s population; however, in Chicago’s homeless population, they are the majority. According to the United States Census Bureau, 32.9% of all people in Chicago are African American (Quick Facts), while African Americans make up 76% of all homeless people in Chicago (Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, FAQs/studies). I encountered this disparity personally when I volunteered at The Boulevard, a homeless shelter in Chicago. There was a highly disproportionate number of African Americans to Caucasians. I decided to follow my observations with a survey of other homeless shelters in Chicago. I called four shelters to find the ethnic breakdowns of their guests. Two of the shelters had percentages that were very similar to the percentage reported by the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, with one having 73% of its guests being African American (Breakthrough Urban Ministries) and another having 79% (Revive Center for Housing and Healing). The other two had percentages that were much higher, at 95% African American (Christian Community Health Center) and 98% (You Can Make It). This phenomenon in Chicago can be seen on a national scale as well, with seven black homeless people for every one white homeless person (Zill, Karen. Discussion_american_denial.pdf).
Even those who aren’t homeless have it rough.
In fiction, this can be represented by a scene in the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, in which a moving family of African-Americans are rejected by the existing residents of their destination. They even go so far as to send a man to say that they aren’t wanted, but they can move into this lovely all-black neighborhood instead! In response, the family’s enraged mother states that “Them houses they put up for colored in them areas way out all seem to cost twice as much as other houses. I did the best I could” (Hansberry 2.i). She can’t afford -- and doesn’t want -- a decent house in a black town, because they are only able to move off of the payoff from the grandfather’s life insurance. They can barely afford their `current shoddy living condition as it is! And this isn’t only a problem in fiction. In the article, “A crumbling, dangerous south side creates exodus of black Chicagoans”, it is said that “A recent study found that half of [Chicago]’s African-American men between 20 and 24 were unemployed or not attending college.” (W. Lee, Reverse Black Flight). These statistics show that, even so close as Chicago, African-Americans cannot afford college or get a job to support their
home.
As we said before, a significant portion of black male Chicagoans can’t afford to support a family, get an education, or even a job. This isn’t the only case of such poverty, either. These figures (Slide), from the article The Racial Wealth Gap, by Laura Shin, and the article A crumbling, dangerous south side creates exodus of black Chicagoans, by W. Lee, show the average incomes, according to a recent census, of families divided up by race. It’s immediately obvious; White families have a massive advantage. Meanwhile, Black families make a fraction of the total income, and, as shown here by the same article (next slide), also have a much higher poverty rate. Of all census tracts in Chicago, the ones that are primarily white have practically no poverty, while primarily black ones are steeped in it. But wait, I have more. In the news list The Worst Cities For Black Americans, we see some interesting statistics. Allow me to recite; Black median household income as pct. of white: 50%. Black unemployment rate: 18%. Unemployment rate, all people: 7%. (Thomas C. Frolich, The Worst Cities for Black Americans) The black unemployment rate in Chicago is more than twice the total rate, and the Black median income is half! Coincidence? I think not!
Now, literature is a major part of many people’s lives. It can be used to tell about, and even fight against, many major world problems and injustices. But literature often does not correlate well with economics… or does it? In the famous story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, there is a black man who’s name is crooks. He is, we discover eventually, living in a barn -- A barn! -- even though other visitors get to stay in the house, and all because he doesn’t have the money to get a home himself. I find this rather shocking, myself, and given the obvious popularity of this book, I would expect that, even for such a simple detail, more people would react to it. And this isn’t the only instance, either. In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, a black man named Tom gets sent to jail for a crime he didn’t commit, yet was convicted of because of his race, putting enormous financial strain on his family, to the point that they have to take donations from the church to survive. Essentially, they are forced to beg because they’re black. Also note that these donations come from the church for only black people. White churches won’t donate, and as a result, the already-financially-challenged black population have to donate money that the white population won’t because of race, all to save a black family that needs the money… Because they’re black. It’s ridiculous. Any way I look at it, I see only African-Americans getting financially destroyed.