Hansberry had to have been aware of the semantic subtleties of the black dialect in order to have made these points in Raisin.
Note the following examples from various scenes of Raisin.
Walter: I can't be bein' late to work on account of him fooling around in there.
Ruth: Oh, no he ain't going to be getting up no earlier no such thing!
Ruth: Walter, don't be dragging me in it.
Also in the black dialect, one moves directly from the subject to its adjective, getting to the point more quickly by having eliminated any forms of the verb "to be." For example, one might hear someone say in black dialect, "Don't bother Lisa 'cause she tired." One might also hear "She pretty," "He ugly," or "They smart."
Note the following from various scenes in Raisin:
Walter: You tired, ain't you? Tired of everything . . .
Walter: We one group of men tied to a race of women with small minds . . .
Mama: But [Beneatha] you so thin . . .
Mama: We ain't no business people, Ruth. We just plain working folks.
Mama: Ruth honey — what's the matter with you — you sick?
Ruth: You think you a woman, Bennie — but you still a little girl.
In the black dialect, the word "done" means something completely different from the Standard English past participle of the verb "to do." Note the following examples:
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It's too late to ask her cause she done gone.
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Mrs. Jackson done burned the cabbage again.
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I done told you — I didn't do it!
