Carl Hansberry purchased a home in the Woodlawn subdivision, an all-white Chicago neighborhood in 1937. The neighborhood banned Black residents from moving in, but Hansberry purchased the home through his white attorney. When his family moved in, the neighborhood reacted.
From bricks being thrown at their windows to mob crowds threatening violence, Hansberry and his family suffered from constant attacks. A Woodlawn resident filed an action against Hansberry questioning the legality of his family’s stay. The town won the case, but Hansberry wasn’t done just yet.
Hansberry took his case all the way to the Supreme Court. The court ruled the Woodlawn neighborhood’s restrictions to be unconstitutional.
The Woodlawn neighborhood was now open to everyone. More than 500 Black families moved into Woodlawn because of Carl Hansberry’s courage to challenge the system.
Hansberry’s actions remind us that we need to use any avenue we can to fight against anti-Black systems. In this case, Hansberry beat them at their own game through the legal system. How can we outsmart the systems oppressing us on our way to liberation?