The story tells of a black family's experiences in south Chicago, as they attempt to improve their financial circumstances with an insurance payout following the death of the father, and deals with matters of housing discrimination, racism, and assimilation.

Vaguely threatening, he says he wishes to avoid tensions over the introduction of Black people into the neighborhood, which to the three women's horror Walter bitterly prepares to accept as a solution to their financial setback.

Meanwhile, Beneatha's character and direction in life are influenced by two different men who are potentially love interests: her wealthy and educated boyfriend George Murchison, and Joseph Asagai.

George represents the "fully assimilated black man" who denies his African heritage with a "smarter than thou" attitude, which Beneatha finds disgusting, while dismissively mocking Walter's situation.

Joseph, a Yoruba student from Nigeria, patiently teaches Beneatha about her African heritage; he gives her thoughtfully practical gifts from Africa while pointing out she is unwittingly assimilating herself into white ways.

She eventually accepts his point of view that things will get better with effort, along with agreeing to consider his proposal of marriage and invitation to move with him to Nigeria to practice medicine.

Walter redeems himself and black pride at the end by changing his mind and not accepting the buyout offer, stating that the family is proud of who they are and will try to be good neighbors.

In the introduction by Robert B. Nemiroff, he writes that the scene is included in print because it draws attention away from a seemingly happy ending to a more violent reality inspired by Hansberry's own experiences.

With a cast in which all but one character is black, A Raisin in the Sun was considered a risky investment, and it took eighteen months for producer Philip Rose to raise enough money to launch it.

As on Broadway, the director was Lloyd Richards, and the cast was as follows: The play was presented (as before) by Philip Rose and David J. Cogan, in association with the British impresario Jack Hylton.

In 1961, a film version of A Raisin in the Sun was released featuring its original Broadway cast of Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil, Diana Sands, Ivan Dixon, Louis Gossett Jr. and John Fiedler.

The Hansberry family won their right to be heard as a matter of due process of law in relation to the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The production had a limited national tour including stops in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., with Esther Rolle taking over as Lena and Danny Glover as Walter Lee, respectively.

[14][15] A revival ran on Broadway at the Royale Theatre from April 26, 2004, to July 11, 2004[16] with the following cast: The director was Kenny Leon, and David Binder and Vivek Tiwary were producers.

The production was notable for emphasizing the danger the Youngers face in moving to Clybourne Park, a notion that was written into the script by Hansberry but most major interpretations, including the film, avoid due to undercutting a perceived happy ending.

The cast included Joe Morton (Walter Lee), Virginia Capers (Mama), Ernestine Jackson (Ruth), Debbie Allen (Beneatha) and Ralph Carter (Travis, the Youngers' young son).

In 1989, the play was adapted into a TV film for PBS's American Playhouse series, starring Danny Glover (Walter Lee) and Esther Rolle (Mama), Kim Yancey (Beneatha), Starletta DuPois (Ruth), John Fiedler (Karl Lindner), and Helen Martin (Mrs. Johnson).

On 3 March 1996, the BBC broadcast a production of the play by director/producer Claire Grove, with the following cast:[24] In 2008, Sean Combs, Phylicia Rashad, Audra McDonald, and Sanaa Lathan reprised their roles from the 2004 Broadway revival in a television film directed by Kenny Leon.

This version restores the character of Mrs Johnson and a number of scenes that were cut from the Broadway production and subsequent film, with the following cast:[27] The 2010 Bruce Norris play Clybourne Park depicts the white family that sold the house to the Youngers.