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
This poem is often compared to Walt Whitman’s I Hear America Singing because of the similarities of the two poems. In this poem, Hughes argues that the African American race is equal to whites. Hughes even declares that one day the African American race will be equal to whites. Hughes proclaims, “Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed-I, too, am America.” Hughes was very bold and daring when he wrote these lines in this poem. He is implying that the white people will regret what they have done to blacks. That they will be ashamed of how they treated them. Undoubtedly, this poem expresses Hughes cultural identity.
Langston Hughes was dedicated to writing about the hardships and problems of African Americans. He wrote for and connected with the average, everyday African American. While he connected majorly with the African Americans, Langston also managed to attract attention from many white people too.
Because of that, his writing seems to manifest a greater meaning. He is part of the African-American race that is expressed in his writing. He writes about how he is currently oppressed, but this does not diminish his hope and will to become the equal man. Because he speaks from the point of view of an oppressed African-American, the poem’s struggles and future changes seem to be of greater importance than they ordinarily would. The point of view of being the oppressed African American is clearly evident in Langston Hughes’s writing.
Many may agree with the message Langston Hughes was conveying in his poem entitled Let America Be America Again, wishing things didn't happen the way it did that caused America to look corruptive. I felt as though throughout his poem based on the title he states the hardships that Americans had to face in the past and even how America is glorified as "land of the free" but with many struggles as well the terrible things that have occured in America it will never be America again and Hughes knows that because there is no such thing as "America being America again" he only wishes it was that way.
In the poem Langston Hughes points out, for example “Tomorrow, /I’ll be on the table/ when company comes. / Nobody’ll dare Say to me, / Eat in the Kitchen”. This allows the reader to understand how the author will not let racism play a role in his life. In its place, he becomes as equal with the white man and kills the evil. He writes about how he is currently oppressed, but this does not diminish his hope and will to become the equal man. Because he speaks from the point of view of an oppressed African-American the poem’s struggles and future changes seem to be of greater importance against his constant struggles with
This poem is written from the perspective of an African-American from a foreign country, who has come to America for the promise of equality, only to find out that at this time equality for blacks does not exist. It is written for fellow black men, in an effort to make them understand that the American dream is not something to abandon hope in, but something to fight for. The struggle of putting up with the racist mistreatment is evident even in the first four lines:
The poem opens a thought of the American Dream, about what he wants America to be, and his hope for the country. The beginning line of the poem entails that America has to be the same America it once was, to me it’s a lie. America back then practiced slavery and oppression, it destroyed the lands of people to build their own homes. The ideal of an “America” was all a dream. It’s what they wanted for their America to be. We as people should be able to rise up and redefine the American equality and take back our land. The poem serves a powerful message of equality. The theme of this poem is against injustice and inequalities that exist in America and that can corrupt the American dream. All characters in the novels we read for the semester i.e. The African, Quick skills, and Tucker, have a lot of similarities with the poem, “Let America Be America Again”. They led their people to freedom by fighting against slavery and restrictions. The African escaped from his master. The African vowed to be free and never be enslaved again. Quickskill came to liberate the fellow slaves, who were enslaved in his master 's plantation. Tucker realized that he had some worth, and wanted freedom for his family. All three of these characters laid their lives on the line for their fellow men. They would rather prefer to die with dignity rather than become a white man’s property. They wanted
Let America Be America Again, written by Langston Hughes, was written to make a satirical statement about the American Dream. He uses personification, alliteration, and imagery to bring home his point that the “dream the dreamers dreamed” (Hughes ???) not only has never existed but will never truly exist for the common man. According to the speaker, assumed to be Hughes but in reality could be anyone who is hopeless and unhappy in this land where “equality is in the air we breathe” (???), that as long as there are “kings” and “tyrants” (???), the American Dream is only an unobtainable goal but is something that must be kept alive.
The poem begins by introducing the limitations of the African Americans’ hopes and dreams in the form of a question. Hughes asks, “What happens to a dream deferred” (1). Here, the dream refers to the African Americans’ yearning for equality and freedom, and Hughes wants to examine what happens when that dream is persistently pushed aside. The spacing directly after this line conjures a sense of silence as if allowing a moment to contemplate the question. The lines following this question explore several possible outcomes, and each answer represents the ruin of a forgotten dream.
... They focus more on the cultural aspects of identity that Hughes is very proud of, while poems “Democracy” and “Theme for English B” touch on some of the social concerns that created a struggle for dignity as a black person in the early/mid twentieth century. The “Democracy” is a slightly stern and direct request to take action and fight for civil rights. The “Theme for English B” is a compassionate and low-key personal anecdote that reiterates the unpracticed concept that “all men are created equal”. Despite the difference in tone and subject, all four poems relate to the central theme that dignity is something that white men may take for granted, but Langston Hughes, as a black man and a writer, sees and feels dignity as a fight and a struggle that he faces and that the black community as a whole faces every day.
So, the poor, colored and those of different nationalities are denied chances to succeed in keeping the traditional values. Both poems address the widespread societal issue of racism that is so prevalent in America. Hughes and Alexie seem to agree that judgment of others is the disgrace of our nation. If the color of a man's skin did not have such a great value in our society, maybe then America could be everyone's. Not just the rich white men but the immigrants, the Africans, the Indians and the poor.
Let America Be America Again Langston Hughes, like numerous other 20th-century American literary giants, provided his own interpretation of the American Dream, which posited that success, prosperity, and contentment were attainable for anyone residing in or aspiring to reside in America. The fact that the 'dream' or ideal is not always met by the reality is something that he brilliantly expresses in this poem, which is one of his most well-known works. By virtue of his identity as an African-American writer, he provides a unique vantage point from which to examine the discrimination that Black Americans endure: Hughes describes how he always felt like an alien in America and how he never really felt like an American. But he broadens the scope
In 1920, Langston Hughes became the voice of black America. He was the inspirational voice of the African-Americans, the hope and motivation of many. Langston wrote about freedom of creative expression, about ordinary people leading ordinary lives, politics, America, dreams, equality and inequality. No surprise was created when his poem: “I, Too, Sing America” was about a black man wish and hopes to live a life with equality. This poem conveys the fact that despite the differences of color, all people living in America are Americans and have the right to be treated equally. Langston’s poem “I, Too, Sing America” illustrates the hope of equality, ambition and freedom of an oppressed person.
Langston Hughes’s poem “I Dream A World” grants a voice to any person, who has been exposed to a life in racial prejudice and inequality, including the writer. That voice belongs to any black person, who has lived the poorer than poor life. This life was full of consistent violation of basic human rights, full of frustration, and overflowing with hopelessness. Upon closer examination, the situation of the poem uncovers the painstakingly raw yearning for humanity and equality.
His poem is written in the point of view of all discriminated peoples. Poor whites, Negros and Native Americans are some of those mentioned in the poem. He states that the American society was run by a tyrannical upper class. In “Let America be America Again.” He was the poor farmer who worked hard and had hoped to topple the rich man’s regime.