Why was the movie Raisin in the Sun controversial?

Answer 1

The film dealt with racial issues. It should be carefully understood the old-line production code banned any films dealing with interracial romance, race-mixing , and I guess the converse- the oppressive effects of apartheid. These subjects were generally taboo. Only less than a handful of films, all produced by somewhat Intrepid or at least daring producers, did manage to get through the cracks- and included Pinkey ( which featured a White actress in a racially-mixed role) the Imitation of Life ( elusive title- sounds like the bio of an artist- like Toulouse-Lautrec or Van Gogh (films were done on both artists). a war film, Kings Go Forth, had one character- again played by a White actress as a racially mixed girl, ableit in North Africa. These were highly touch subjects, and establishment directors and producers did not want to raise the ire of the Decency Leagues ( who also were out combatting comic books!) or worse yet, trigger race riots. so the black and white line was pretty well maintained.