These goals show that Beneatha and Walter are not just stereotypes—they're people who want things for themselves. Those goals aren't stereotypical, either. They're out of the ordinary for African American characters at the time in America.

By painting the Younger family as full people with goals they're working toward, Hansberry is able to challenge the stereotype of African American people that persists with people like those in the Clybourne Park Association. They don't want the Youngers to live there, even though they're kind people with big ambitions, family solidarity, and lots of intelligence—all because the Clybourne Park Association is racist.

Unfortunately, many African Americans are stereotyped as lazy; however, this is not at all true of the Younger family in Raisin in the Sun. They are all hard working; for example, Ruth not only has to cook and clean in her own house, but she also works as a maid in rich people's homes. On cleaning day, all the female members of the family pitch in to make their house as clean and livable as it can be, though it is run down and infested with bugs. Each member of the family harbors a dream of something better, and they want to work to make it happen.

In addition, there is a stereotype of African-American women as angry and somehow less civilized than white women. However, the women in the play—Ruth, Beneatha, and Mama—are refined and intelligent. Mama is a patient soul who has waited years to buy a house for her family, and Ruth is a hard-working person who tries to be a good wife and mother in difficult circumstances. Beneatha is an intellectual who hopes to study medicine and become a doctor in Africa. They are far from the stereotype of the angry, rude, and materialistic African-American woman. Instead of being stereotypical, the African-American characters in the play are human and have universal dreams (such as providing a safe space for their families) that they hope to turn into a reality. 

Hansberry challenges the stereotype that is associated with her subject matter in a couple of ways.  The first way is that she shows the Younger family as challenged by the issues of class and gender, as much as race.  Normally, the stereotype would suggest that race is the only dominant issue.  Hansberry presents such a fleshed out portrait of the family because she examines how different social conditions converge in order to define the family's identity.  Another way in which the family resists being stereotyped lies in their confronting issues and finding success from them.  Hansberry does not show a family that capitulates to the conditions around them or fragments in the face of challenge and adversity.  Walter does discover what constitutes truth and true values and while there will be struggle, the ending indicates that the family will face it together.  This avoids the stereotype that shows a family of color withering under the pressure, capitulating to what is as opposed to what can be.  Finally, Hansberry avoids the stereotype because she enables her characters to be complex and possess dimensions to them.  Each character in the drama is complex, each member of the family unique.  This prevents falling into any stereotype because the intricacy of the characters precludes any real prediction or judgement as to what will happen to form.

Hansberry's play is a critique of traditional gender roles. Ruth, Walter's wife, shows the pressures of having lived a traditional female life. Her marriage and her need to work and raise her son in a cramped apartment have begun to take a toll on her. She is pregnant and wonders if she should have another child, and the playwright indicates that Ruth's face looks worn and weary from her life.

Beneatha, on the other hand, is a symbol of the more modern woman who wants something beyond marriage and children. She plans to pursue an education to become a doctor, even though her brother urges her to be a nurse. She also decides not to get married to the rich George Murchison, even though she would have a comfortable life as his wife. Through Beneatha, the playwright suggests that women can hope for something greater than the traditional roles they are given.

I tend to think that like so much in Hansberry's work, there is a call to examine what defines traditional roles of gender or sex.  Hansberry is smart enough to call for an examination.   She does not seem to be suggesting that one version of sex roles or tradition is going to be preferable than another.  Rather, she suggests that any time social orders dictate how individuals should be, there must be some level of questioning and analysis along those lines.  For example, I think that Beneatha would represent how part of what it means to be a woman is to have dreams and hopes that are varied as the human experience of freedom can be. Her dream of being a doctor is constantly scrutinized, primarily because of the traditional conception that women cannot be anything more than domestic bound.  However, her presence in the drama is to precisely represent how dreams can be achieved and can be present for women.  In this, there is a direct critique of traditional sex roles.  Additionally, Mama Younger is the matriarch, but must act as a patriarch to guide the family in the right direction. Her investment of the money in a house is a role that a man would traditionally undertake.  Here again, one sees how Hansberry is making clear the idea that traditional sex roles might have to be challenged when context and circumstance demand.  For individuals to be happy, Hansberry is suggesting that any socially dictated gender role has to  face examination and scrutiny.

In my view the central theme of A Raisin in the Sun is that all people, regardless of their background, have essentially the same goals and hopes in this life for themselves and their families. The Younger family are emblematic of humanity. Those specific factors in Hansberry's play that exemplify the African American experience, in the early days of the Civil Rights movement, reveal just how far the U.S. still needed to go in creating an equal society (and unfortunately, it still needs to go much further). The Youngers are beset by problems and obstacles resulting from racism and bigotry, when they simply wish to achieve their goals like everybody else: to live, work, provide education for their son, and reside in a nice neighborhood. Though the play is, justifiably, an indictment of racism, it goes much deeper than that. One could argue that the experience of the Youngers, though shaped by the discrimination directed against them, is a more heightened, more intense form of the experience in general of simply being human.

We can see this fact in looking closely at just one of the characters, Beneatha. Like many young people she is in a state of conflict between loyalty to her mother and her wish for independence, especially intellectual independence. She is American but wants to explore her ethnic roots in Africa. Her relationship with Assagai symbolizes both her wish to express herself as a woman and also to fulfill the emotional and intellectual needs all people have. As all authors do, Hansberry relates a story based to some extent on her own background. But the overriding theme is the universality of the situations and characters: that they represent humanity as a whole.

Your question makes reference to the themes of this play, and in my opinion there are there main themes: the dreams that the family have, the fight against racial discrimination and lastly the importance of family.

All the family have their own separate dreams - Beneatha wants to become a doctor for example. These dreams are something they fight for throughout the play, and they face many barriers in achieving these dreams. The characters undergo varying emotions of happiness and depression depending on how their dreams are faring. By the end of the play, they realise that the most important dream out of all of their dreams is the dream of having a family house because it will unite the family. The title of the play refers to a poem by Langston Hughes where he talks about dreams that are forgotten or put off - he wonders if they shrivel up like a raisin in the sun.

Secondly, an obvious theme of the play is the fight against discrimination. From the start of the play, with references to racially motivated attacks, it is clear that this is a dominating theme throughout the play. Mr. Linder, of course, is the character in whom we find this racial discrimination most clearly defined. His bribe to persuade the Younger family not to move into the all-white neighbourhood does threaten to pull the family apart by challenging their value base. However, the Younger family eventually respond with unity and defiance, perhaps suggesting that the way to combat racial discrimination is not to let it go unchecked but to stand up with dignity and assert your rights.

Finally, the play talks about the importance of family. Despite the social and economic struggles that the Younger family go through in the course of the play, in the end they unite to buy their family house. Mama is the character who tries to teach the rest of her family the importance of family values, and Walter and Beneatha learn this lesson after their various traumas. Despite their conflicts, they still manage to unite to reject Mr. Linder's offer. Although they are still strong individuals, they manage to combine their individual dreams with the overarching family dream, putting the family's wishes before their own.

Probably the character who challenges racial stereotypes the most in the play is Beneatha. Unlike the stereotypical uneducated African American, Beneatha is going to college and wants to become a doctor. This even challenges her own brother's ideal of what a Black woman should do. Several times during the play he asks her why she doesn't become a nurse like other women?

In addition, Beneatha is not content with the role that was assigned other Black women, women like Mama and Ruth who clean other people's houses or do their laundry. Instead, Beneatha wants to explore different ways of expressing herself, even if it means that Ruth and Mama laugh at her attempts. She even has the audacity to say she doesn't believe in God---a remark she is quickly forced to take back when Mama slaps her. But she is also the character who helps Walter to stand up to Linder and his offer. When Linder says he wants to buy the Youngers out, Beneatha quips, "Thirty pieces of silver" alluding to the price put on Jesus' head.

However, Hansberry also seems to believe that Beneatha still has a lot to learn from the traditional ways--especially those of Mama. When Beneatha wants to disown Walter for losing the money, Mama is quick to ask "When is the time to love a person the most?" and makes Beneatha stay to support her brother as he faces Linder for the second time. Thus, Beneatha seems to represent a new kind of African American, one who is educated, cultured but still can learn from the traditional values that helped African Americans survive in a hostile world.

Lorraine Hansberry opens the play with a description of the Younger's old, cramped apartment, which is much too small for the rather large family. The apartment and the worn-down furniture correspond to the family's current situation. The play begins with Ruth waking up Travis, who sleeps on the couch, before she begins making breakfast for her husband, Walter. When Walter enters the scene, he immediately asks Ruth about the insurance check, and the couple begins to bicker with each other. Ruth and Walter's relationship is clearly strained, and Walter proceeds to give Travis money, despite Ruth's disapproval. After Travis leaves for school, Walter begins talking about his business idea with Willy Harris, and Ruth mentions that his business partner is a "good-for-nothing loudmouth." Walter responds to Ruth's comment with a passionate speech about being tired and stressed out all of the time. Through Walter's speech, Hansberry illustrates his dream of using the insurance check to invest in his liquor business. However, Ruth simply replies to her husband's dreams by telling him to eat his eggs. Walter's plea and Ruth's response creates sympathy for his character.

When Beneatha enters the scene, she is portrayed as a young, educated woman who is as intense as her brother. Walter once again mentions the insurance check, and Beneatha responds by telling him that it belongs to Mama. Walter then criticizes Beneatha for wanting to become a doctor, and she responds by ridiculing his plan to invest in a liquor business. Their interaction illustrates the tension among the family members and further develops the theme of attaining one's dream.

After Walter leaves for work, Lena enters the scene and has a conversation with Ruth. Ruth attempts to influence Lena's decision to let Walter invest in the liquor business in the hopes that he will be happy and their marriage will prosper. However, Lena detests the idea of going into the liquor business and expresses her own dream of buying a home. Hansberry further characterizes Beneatha by portraying her as an ambivalent girl with fleeting interests. Hansberry also depicts the tension between Ruth and Lena's views regarding men, which contrast with Beneatha's modern ideas of romance. When the conversation shifts to the topic of God, Beneatha mentions that she does not believe in God. Lena responds by powerfully slapping Beneatha in the face and making her say, "In my mother's house there is still a God" (Hansberry, 9). Lena's display of authority establishes her as the head of the household, which indicates that she has the final say in how the insurance money will be spent. The scene ends with Lena talking to Ruth about her "strong-willed" children, and Ruth loses consciousness as Lena is watering her plant.

Hansberry depicts the conflicts of interest regarding how to spend Lena's insurance check while simultaneously characterizing each member of the Younger family. While Walter Jr. is the play's protagonist, Lena is depicted as the authority figure in the home. The tension between each character is illustrated, and the audience wonders whose dream will come to fruition. Both Walter and Beneatha are portrayed as strong-willed individuals, and nobody in the family seems content with their current situation. The decision regarding how to spend the insurance money drives the plot, as each character wishes to improve their life.

I agree with the 3rd post here - A Raisin in the Sun is not easily construed as an "integrationist text".

A play about prejudice, poverty, and family, this is not necessarily a play about making social progress through integration. Finding pride in the family is the main challenge for the Youngers. Assimilating into a white-dominated society is not a goal for the family, nor is it easy to find a way to explain the text with this aim in mind.

While race is certainly an unavoidable component of A Raisin in the Sun, I'm not sure anyone can say unequivocally that she wrote this play primarily as an attempt to promote racial integration. As the previous poster points out, the Youngers end up moving into a predominantly white neighborhood, a neighborhood which is willing to pay them not to move. Similar neighborhoods have erupted into violence, and we are invested enough in this family that we hope for the best as they begin a new life. However, in addition to integration, there are plenty of themes about the more general human condition, many of which are not related at all to race. We see rich and poor, American blacks and African blacks, people of good character and people of low character, fears and hopes, discontent and dreams. Integration is only one aspect of this play.

In A Raisin In the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry promotes integration. She does this through the Younger family buying a house in an all- white neighborhood.

Although Mama Younger was just trying to find a nice house for the right amount of money, it just so happens that the house she buys is in an all-white neighborhood.

After deciding upon the house, a man named Karl Linder visits the Younger family. He represents the welcoming committee, but he is not there to welcome the Youngers. In fact, he is there to try and buy them out. The white people do not desire the black Younger family to move to their all white neighborhood.

Hansberry uses this incident to join the races or at least open the eyes of racist people. Although the Younger family is not welcomed to the all-white neighborhood, they decide to move there nonetheless. This story teaches people that there is racism but it can be overcome with perseverance and determination. This book opens the eyes of racist people. It also teaches minorities to stand up for their rights in a peaceful manner.

I think that it's a fairly complex issue or statement that Hansberry is raising about the issue of race.  Certainly, on one hand, Hansberry is open about the fact that there is a racial issue or an issue regarding race in the modern setting.  She is not naive enough to present the reality that governs the Younger family as one devoid of race.  It is racial prejudice that makes their move into Clybourne Park such a challenging one, and it is the condition of race that plays a part in why they live in the context that they do.  Yet, Hansberry does not capitulate to the standard read that it is all about race and that race is the only element that defines the existence of the Younger family.  Hansberry is complex and smart enough to suggest that race is one of many factors that play a role in the Younger family and their desire to move.  Part of this resides in the issue of class and economic reality.  Hansberry seems to be suggesting that the modern setting is one in which issues like class and race converge within one another to make upward mobility difficult, but not entirely impossible.  In this respect, Hansberry embraces the opportunity ideology which stresses that belief in dreams and constant self- improvement and confidence are critical in establishing a better life for oneself and one's family.  Her statement in this regard is a unique one, filled with nuanced complexity.  In making such a statement, Hansberry offers a multi- dimensional view on race, as opposed to a simplistic and reductive approach to it.

The most shining example of discrimination in A Raisin in the Sun is when the white homeowners of the Clybourne Park Improvement Association, the neighborhood the Younger family is planning to move to, attempt to pay them to give up the home they've purchased so that the neighborhood stays white. This makes discrimination a real issue that the protagonists have to confront to grow as people and as a family unit.

Karl Lindner, who represents the Association, suggests that the family takes the money for their house and move to a new neighborhood where there are more black people living. The neighborhood where Lena purchased the house is a neighborhood with only white people; Karl doesn't think it would be good for his neighborhood or the Younger family to move there. His offer means that they could buy another house elsewhere and the family does consider taking it—especially when Walter loses the rest of the inheritance.

Ultimately, it's clear that the Younger family will face even more prejudice when they move into the neighborhood. They know that the people there aren't going to welcome them. However, they decide to go through with it anyway. With the rest of the money gone, it's the best way to pay tribute to their deceased husband and father. It's also the best hope they have for getting out of the ghetto and finding a better life.

Overall, it's clear that the Youngers don't have much of a spiritual connection with the land of their ancestors. Thoroughly Americanized—though still not accepted as equals in the deeply racist society in which they live—they share the astonishing level of ignorance about Africa and African people.

Mama is particularly guilty in this regard. Her ignorance of African life is almost total; she even wonders whether Africans even wear clothes. Later on in the play she tries to make amends in front of Asagai, but it soon becomes painfully obvious that she's just parroting what Beneatha's been telling her.

Talking of Beneatha, she too initially displays a fair degree of ignorance towards Africa. This is despite the fact that she harbors plans of moving there with Asagai and making a fresh start in her life. Even though Beneatha is keen to learn more about her heritage, her understanding of African culture remains superficial, involving little more than the wearing of traditional African clothing. To Beneatha, it would seem that an African identity is something you can just put on like a new dress.

Yet in due course Beneatha develops a deeper understanding of African culture under Asagai's influence, though there's still more than a hit of romanticizing involved. In any case, it's clear that Hansberry regards sincere attempts by African Americans to get in touch with their ancestral heritage as most emphatically a good thing.

In order to see this, one only has to compare Asagai's settled identity as an African with George Murchison's much more confused identity as an African American trying to assimilate into white society. Beneatha may still be somewhat naive in relation to Africa, but at least she's making progress towards achieving a stable cultural identity, which is more than can be said for her condescending boyfriend, George.