Even though the play was written over 40 years ago I can still see how most of the conflicts and issues presented in the play are still relevant. During the whole play the main conflict between the Younger family was, what where they going to do with the insurance money that they will receive because of a death in the family once they got it. The Youngers were a poor family and knowing this money was coming each person in the family had in mind what was best for them and the family to do with the money.
Walter thought it was best to invest in a liquor store because he said people are always going to be drinking and it would be a good business investment and Walter explains it by saying “Yeah You see, this little liquor store we got in mind cost seventy-five thousand and we figured the initial investment on the place be ’bout thirty thousand, see. That be ten thousand each. Course, there’s a couple of hundred you got to pay so you don’t spend your life just waiting for them clown to let your license get approved” (Hansberry, 1959, p. 494). Mama wanted to buy a bigger house for her and her family to live in like her and her deceased husband always dreamed of doing. Ruth agreed with Mama.
Lastly Beneatha wanted to use the money for medical school. They argued about what to do with it, even though everyone might have good intentions with the money they can’t come to an agreement. I can see this happening to a low-income family today, because if they got the chance to make a difference for their family they are going to take it, but with multiple people each with a different idea of what’s best it could be easy to bump heads with each other and fight over what’s best.
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As far as other issues presented in the play, I think they can also still be relevant to today’s society. For example, when Mama puts a down payment on a house in Clybourne Park which is a predominantly a white neighborhood they receive a visit from a man named Mr.Lindner which is a member of the improvement association of Clybourne Park. He is there to essentially persuade the Youngers by saying “It is a matter of the people of Clybourne Park believing, rightly or wrongly, as I say, that for the happiness of all concerned that our Negro families are happier when they live in their own communities…our association is prepared, through the collective effort of our people, to buy the house from you at a financial gain to your family” (Hansberry, 1959, p. 553-554).
Mr. Lindner and all the white people of Clybourne Park feel that having a black family move into their neighborhood would cause a problem and make it look less “elite”, so he offers them more money than what they paid for to try and bride them not to move in. This is an example of discrimination that the Youngers faced as a Black family in the 50’s. Even though this is over 50 years ago there are still incidents of Black families and individuals that face similar discrimination, some in ways worse or discreet but all classifies as discrimination.
