Langston Hughes Let America Be America Again

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The poem is based on a cultural movement during the 1920s that celebrated black life and culture. The Harlem Renaissance and the Great Depression. "Let America Be America Again" criticizes the country's inability to grant equality and freedom particularly to the working class, the poor, and people of color. It conveys a profound feeling of disappointment with the American Dream. By drawing a comparison between the idealistic perception of America and the harsh realities that oppressed people must endure, Hughes advocates for the restoration of the American promise of liberty and justice for all. The poem is a criticism of the American Dream that calls for a revision of the true American identity and points out the disadvantages of minority …show more content…

As Constantini says, “The next three stanzas list all of the Americans who might respond to the lines in italics above. Hughes includes not only African Americans--former slaves and servants and poor workers--but also Native Americans, who have been forced to leave the territory their families lived on for generations; immigrants from all over the world who come to America full of optimism but find that they still cannot make a decent life for themselves” or when Hughes says, "O, let my land be a land where Liberty Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, But opportunity is real, and life is free, Equality is in the air we breathe.” The poet highlights the stark contrast between wealth and poverty, thereby casting a spotlight on the profound socioeconomic disparities that pervade society, even relating equality to air. This literary technique allows the poem to echo the intimate resonance of personal testimony while simultaneously capturing the chorus of society’s shared experiences. The concept of the American Dream, which is often associated with the idea of moving up in society and achieving wealth, is carefully analyzed in the …show more content…

In Hughes characteristically “multiracial perspective” The poem delves into the concept of intersectionality, revealing how race, ethnicity and economic status blend together to mold the fabric of personal identities and life experiences. It sheds light on how these interconnected structures of advantage and disadvantage influence the economic challenges encountered by groups. The poem vividly captures the exploitation of laborers, who toil under the weight of oppressive conditions for meager wages, their plight a somber reflection on the harsh realities of a system that profits from their relentless exertion yet undervalues their humanity.individuals whose sweat saturates the very soil they work upon, their dreams deferred by a relentless grind that seldom yields more than survival. Louis states, “‘Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed.’ It's a dream of freedom, equality, opportunity, and liberty--the ideals that form the bedrock of the nation”. The poem explores the challenges that immigrants and African Americans encounter due to discrimination, racial prejudices and past

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