Essay 'Should America Be America Again'

Patriotism is not something that you see a lot of in Urban Communities. A lot of urban homes don’t teach their children about being patriotic. Many believe this is still a “white man’s country” In the Article “Urban Perspective: Flag –waving and Patriotism Far From the Whole Truth; Part 1” Author Larry Aubry a longtime community activist he believes that a lot of Black Americans have mixed feelings about patriotism due to the past and present treatment of African Americans in America. America gives off the perception that the house with the white picket fence, dog and two kids is the “American Dream”. In fact many people in urban communities don’t even own their homes. In the Article “Reinventing America Call for a New National Identity” by Elizabeth Martinez she believes that “White America” makes us believe they settled America for all people. In reality that is not true because the Native American had already settled here. Patriotism is something that I hope to see being instilled in the next generation of urban youth, but not force upon them. David Noise who is an author and activist tells us in his article “Is American Patriotism Getting Out of hand” he believes that patriotism is something that should not be force to the point that it causes a division it should be something that brings us together as a whole. Sept 11th was a tragic event where patriotism for our country brought us all together as one. I believe in the future we will see a change in

George Orwell’s novella “Animal Farm” is an allegory of the Russian Revolution retold by the rebellion of beasts over mankind. Through the actions and influences of the pigs in the story, Orwell highlights and mocks various human weaknesses, showing that although humans are thought to be the superior race, they are still flawed. Orwell ridicules man’s hunger for power and the benefits that come with authority. Furthermore, he brings to light the effects of alcoholism, and man’s detrimental and uncontrollable ability to cause physical harm.

“Let America Be America Again” takes a sullen, down-hearted approach. Hughes evokes all of the wonderful, patriotic images of America, but also makes the reader question these images. The reader is forced to remember some of the atrocities that are also America. Throughout the poem Hughes asks rhetorical questions to cause the reader to pause and think. For some America never lived up to it’s reputation, and for these some Hughes uses the anaphora “I am the” and continues to list all of the people who were never able to obtain the American Dream, “I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil. I am the worker, sold to the machine. I am the Negro, servant to you all.” The poem’s mood is that America should return to what it was designed to be rather than what it ever actually was. Hughes ends the poem with a concept that is not unknown to American’s, Hope, Hughes ends his poem with hope

The short story ‘Harrison Bergeron’, Written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and the novel ‘The Giver’ by Lois Lowry both share a theme of forced equality and uniformity. Both stories take place in dystopian worlds. Woven throughout both of the stories are, authority is forcing egalitarianism onto citizens because they want an indefectible civilization. In the short story Harrison Bergeron, the world is ruled by Handicap General were in The Giver the world is ruled by the Elders, so that the community would be equal. But in both stories the protagonist goes against the community to break the peace and gain freedom and demonstrates how the authority always doesn’t know the best.

Many societies strive to make every person as equal as possible to the next, believing that this makes everything fair for everyone. In all truth though, society cannot function in this way; no matter what, there will always be someone or some group that has more power than everyone else. Equality should only concern the important issues, such as equal rights for all races and each gender. Both the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell and the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. are the quintessence of inequality and prove this point; all equal societies do not work. There are many similarities the book Animal Farm shares with the short story “Harrison Bergeron”, one

Shelby Steele uses repetition and historic examples in his effective essay, “The New Sovereignty,” to inform the public of the negative effects that collective entitlement of minorities has on everyday citizens in America.

The idea of oppression has become a concept of American literature, because it directly correlates to the idea of a freedom, which is an extremely American theme. The notion of freedom first became a recognizable American ideal when Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, declaring that the thirteen colonies were no longer controlled by Great Britain, and King George. We then again expressed our independence and freedom from oppression when we ratified the United States Constitution. However, the early American’s were guilty

Back in the 19th century, there was a common belief that God had destined The United States to expand entirely across the North American continent, and eventually across the entire Western Hemisphere. They believed that what they were doing was justifiable, because they believed that God was telling them to do this. It had a huge impact on who America is today as a country and if the expansion had not occurred, it is easy to believe that America would not be the thriving and successful country that it is now. There were many positive sides to Manifest Destiny such as; America was successful in expanding its land from the east to the west coast, which is a positive, because it allowed many people to come to America who otherwise would not have had the chance because there would have been no room for any more people. Another positive side is that it gave America a lot more culture than it had before. But if there is a positive side, that means there has to be a negative side. One of the negative sides to Manifest Destiny and territorial expansion was that they did whatever they could possibly do to get that land and they did not care who it hurt, killed, or negatively affected in the process. This is the reason why so many people debate whether or not manifest destiny was a good or a bad thing, because there are valid reasons for both sides.

Being American is more than just living between the blurred lines of red, white, and blue but defining how civility, humility, and inclusion helps mesh what is great about the United States of America. We take our liberties to be infinite and without protest when opposition does not infringe upon one's livelihood, but shroud those protections when a sector of the population brings light to injustice. Running to our comfort zones when the judgement is a burden or too difficult will never facilitate change, but will just harbor the resentment of the marginalized while muffling their cries. Can we really accept the love of our country if we refuse to understand one another's differences?

This year's presidential election has attracted the attention of citizens and of the media like never before. The candidates have flung mud, made false promises, and of course rallied against the opposition just like every four years. The difference this year is the candidate Donald Trump; a multimillionaire of the age of 69, New Yorker, and a loud mouthed businessman. Running with the slogan, “Make America Great Again,” the New Yorker released a TV ad entitled “Great Again.” In this ad, Donald Trump spreads a message of fear of domestic terrorism, desired military conflict, and offensive isolationism to an audience that possess a deep anger and a sense of voicelessness.

Los Angeles -- As many as 200,000 Salvadorans in the United States are now being forced to go back to El Salvador after living in this country for over a decade. This is the Trump Administration’s next move, hoping to eliminate illegal immigrants. Soon, immigrants from countries such as Honduras might face the same punishment. This is all part of Donald Trump’s plan to “Make America Great Again.”

The dictionary definition of American is “a person born, raised, or living in the U.S.” (Merriam-Webster). But, there numerous meanings of this word rather than what’s written in the dictionary. Being in this remarkable first-world country is a privilege not everyone can have. In the United States of America, being an America means having the freedom to say, do, be, and believe in anything. Gallup states that freedom in the United States means “being ‘able to have our own ideas and beliefs, and being able to express [them], along with the freedom of being and individual who is different from others’”

The idea of equality is one that has been entrenched into the hearts and minds of the citizens of the United States since the days of the founding fathers. The thought that one person is better than another is an ideal that as a nation, the founding fathers strove to overcome. They believed that each person should have the identical rights and opportunities of every other person in our society. This sentiment becomes grossly perverted in Vonnegut’s short story “Harrison Bergeron”. In the tale, the American government has taken the idea of equality to an extreme that is not only inhumane, but in essence takes away our freedom and individuality, the very fabric of what we consider American.

Throughout time and history, it has been shown that power comes at a cost. When one has power, it is often at the expense of someone else. Being privileged implies there must be another party who’s not, and seldom come without suffering. Regardless of one’s wishes and hopes for equality, the value one brings and has is what determines one’s place in society. The three works emphasize the importance of socioeconomic power in society, as well as the need for the exploitation of the unprivileged in order for the privileged class to flourish.

In life, a person with morals is usually very ethical and has high values and strong religious beliefs. These people know right from wrong and prefer to do what they think is right in any given situation. This is what morality is, having the knowledge to know right from wrong. In Dr. Ben Carson’s America the Beautiful, he states that this nation, The United States of America, was founded with the concept of morality in mind. He also arrives at many notable points concerning the concept of morality in American Society and History. These points include: decisions based on status, slavery, the treating of immigrants, and family values and education.