Carl Augustus Hansberry, Jr. (1920-1997)
Carl Augustus Hansberry Jr., born on February 19, 1920, was named after his father, and was another member engaged in the Hansberry’s fight for equal rights. As a retaliation to the Hansberrys outspoken and defiant legal fight against the government, many years of lawsuits were directed against the Hansberry family and its thriving business by the local and national government.
There was a concerted effort by some Chicago officials to bring down the Hansberry’s family real estate business, and by 1958 the City of Chicago was pursuing 42 separate municipal court cases against the Hansberry family.
This all led to the 1958 Civil Action Case 58C1284, Carl A. Hansberry, Perry Hansberry, Lorraine Hansberry, et al vs. City of Chicago. The suit brought by the family “alleged harassment of tenants, defamation of the Hansberry's real estate business by city housing inspectors, and conspiracy by white city officials to deprive African-American property owners of their property."
Also, according to the lawsuit, when the Hansberry family attempted to rehabilitate some of their apartment buildings that the city claimed had several building violations and “evicted tenants from 50 apartments to allow renovation work to begin, the Chicago building commissioner refused to give the Hansberrys a permit for the necessary repairs.” Despite the onslaught against their business and livelihood, the family continued to fight for African Americans equal rights as citizens of the United States.
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