Richard Wright vs. Lorrain Hansberry on Systemic Racism in America

 Both Richard Wright’s “Down By the Riverside” and Lorrain Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” reflect the same system, and display many of the same elements of systemic racism of their time. In “Down By the Riverside”, Mann is viewed with suspicion by everyone around him, despite all of his work rescuing people, or the ways that he is forced to sacrifice himself or his family to help others. Similarly, in “A Raisin in the Sun”, the family is approached by Karl Lindner and the neighbors association, who try to stop the family from moving into a white neighborhood. Both stories exhibit racism rooted in the same assumptions that black people should be kept out of the comfort of white people, but the works differ in their interpretation of what this racist system means for its black citizens. 

Wright’s naturalism, and Hansberry’s realism are what set the two apart in terms of message. Naturalism is a more pessimistic framing which argues that man will always succumb to nature, or the hostile environment around him. In the case of Wright’s Black Naturalism, this implies that black people are unable to prosper in a white supremacist system that has no regard for their survival. This is demonstrated in “Down By the Riverside” by the whole story building up how much Mann does for his community, and by how much he sacrifices during this time of emergency, only for the town to turn on him at the first chance they get. Wright uses this to protest racism by demonstrating how preventable Mann’s death was, if only he was able to break from this system that was out to get him.

The conflict in “A Raisin in the Sun” is more internal within the family, centering on how racism has penetrated their own interpersonal interactions. However, the key difference is how Hansberry depicts the characters as having self determination, unlike how Mann is seemingly pushed towards his untimely fate despite his best efforts. The realism in “A Raisin in the Sun” is ‘liberal’ in the sense that it suggests integration and seeking equal rights in the belief that African Americans can find their place within the existing system. The story ends on a more optimistic tone, with the family still moving into the white neighborhood despite the efforts of the neighbors association, creating a legacy and asserting dignity. Hansberry describes a world where black people have self determination to find prosperity, even within the racist system, possibly asserting that the system doesn’t need to be rebuilt, but can be altered.

Richard Wright and Lorrain Hansberry use their stories to address the effect of systemic racism on the ability of black people to survive in America, however they seem to estimate the severity of this racism differently. Hansberry frames systemic racism as a problem that can be confronted: the system is unjust, but can be altered. She implies that through self determination, black people can carve out a space and prosper, even within the fabric of the oppressive system. Wright on the other hand depicts this racism as all encompassing; the system leaves no room for black people to survive, and must be torn down before a truly just one can be built.

-Sahnan