'Let America Be America Again' By Langston Hughes: An Analysis

In Chapter 1, Alexander provides a brief history of race and racism in America. For those readers less familiar with the narrative of American history, this tour through slavery, Bacon’s Rebellion, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, Populism, the end of Jim Crow through Board, and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s is very instructive. Even if this narrative sounds familiar though, what comes next is probably less so. The backlash to the Civil Rights Movement manifested itself in the Southern Strategy and the first construction of stereotypes such as lazy “welfare cheats” and black criminals. “Law and order” rhetoric became a popular way to stoke hostility towards blacks; it was carried out by conservatives to win votes among poor whites.

Slavery and racism was the plague of the United States. It followed on the heals of government policy and trickled down the social ladder for many years. Racial discrimination is still existent today, though people are afraid to talk about it, for fear of admitting ancestral sin and current stereotypes. Ta-Nehisi Coates expresses these ideas in his article “The Case for Reparations”, and focuses on the issue of home ownership in Chicago. The bottom line of his article is that one must not forget and discard of the past, rather they must acknowledge and own what has happened. With Coates focus on American oppression, one doesn’t glean an exceptional take on the United States, from his perspective. He describes the U.S. as too timid to own its mistakes. In the middle of the 20th century, Chicago, discrimination was rampant. Blacks were targeted by “real-estate speculators” when trying to own a house, they were put “on contract.” In response to the issues brought about by the contracts, the Contract Buyers League was founded. This was an attempt to reverse the damage that was being done. Discrimination still occurs today. Racial discrimination has long plagued the U.S., but it is possible to change.

The election of Barack Obama as the 56th president of the United States raised many hopes that the “Black struggles” was finally over. For conservatives, Obama victory reassured their beliefs that there was no longer such thing as racism and that every American had equal rights and opportunity to pursue the American dream. While many people have come to believe that all races have equal rights in America, Tim Wise argues in his documentary “White Like Me” that not only does racism and unconscious racial bias still exist, but that also White Americans are unable to simply relate to the variety of forms racism and inequality Blacks experience. This is mainly because of the privileges they get as the “default.” While Wise explores the variety forms of racism and inequality today such as unconscious racism, Black poverty, unemployment, inadequate education system, and prison system, the articles by the New York Times Editorial Board, the Human Rights Watch (HRW), and Adam Liptak further explore some the disparities in the criminal justice system. Ana Swanson points out in her article, “The Stubborn Persistence of Black-White Inequality, 50 Years after Selma” that while the “U.S. has made big strides towards equal rights,” significant gaps still remains between the two races. With the Supreme Court striking down a “portion of the Voting Rights Act that stopped discriminatory voting laws from going into effect in areas of the country with histories of disenfranchisement,” civil

The article, “The Case for Reparations”, presents itself with a commendable representation on how the need for reparations is essential when combined with the brutal history of slavery and progression of blacks in American Society after slavery. Ta- Nehisi Coates argues that the relationship between racial identity and reparations is based upon America’s debt to blacks for the countless years of injustice. With this he demonstrates how white supremacy has ultimately used impractical measures to maintain what they consider social stability for those who were not African American.

Life, liberty, freedom, equality, opportunity, and so many other words have been used to describe the United States of America. Every American child grows up with the words “the land of the free” pounded into their heads, and every morning schools declare America as a place of “liberty and justice for all.” Such inflated rhetoric presents America with large shoes to fill. Thus, America’s shortcomings should not be surprising. Langston Hughes and Upton Sinclair were two 20th Century writers, who saw past this idealistic talk and saw the jungle that the United States really was. Langston Hughes wrote in his poem “Let America be America Again”, “Let America be America again. –Let it be the dream it used to be. –Let it be the pioneer on the plain –Seeking a home where himself is free. –(America was never America to me) (1).” He highlights not only the experience of African Americans during the 1930s, but identifies with other oppressed groups including immigrants writing, “I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—And finding only the same old stupid plan –Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.” Likewise, Upton Sinclair conveyed his repulsion to immigrant oppression during the Industrial Revolution in his book The Jungle, emphasizing the gullibility behind trusting the grandiloquence of the American dream.

     In the poem "Let America Be America Again," Langston Hughes paints a vivid word picture of a depressed America in the 1930's. To many living in America, the idealism presented as the American Dream had escaped their grasp. In this poetic expression, a speaker is allowed to voice the unsung Americans' concern of how America was intended to be, had become to them, and could aspire to be again.

For the longest time in American history racism has always existed to some certain extent. In the poem “Open Letter to the south” by Langston Hughes is about the inequality of people and how we should all come together as one no matter you skin color. In the Poem “Let America be America Again” also by Langston Hughes is from the perspective of a low class black man and expresses his difficulties. Both “Open Letter to the south” and “let America Be America again” compares the longings for acceptance, hope, and the future.

Historically, the United State is not a color-blinded nation. Racial oppression, segregation, and discrimination have powerfully shaped American history from its beginnings. During the World War II, a complex moment in American history, racism powered by the war tremendously influenced the lives of minority groups, race relations, and institutional system. As one of the greatest black American writers, Chester Himes, in his novel “If He Hollers Let Him Go,” reveals how American society in wartime uses patriotism as an excuse to rationalize white racism and enforce power to oppress minorities through criminalizing them and depriving them of their labor opportunities and social opportunities in order to prevent them from moving upward. In this

Between the World and Me, is a framework of the American history and current crisis of racial ideals. The author, Ta-Nehisi Coates, discusses the damaging falsehoods race has caused on black men and woman throughout history and in current situations. Coates’ writes this book as an open letter to his son, with the intention of helping him understand what it is like to live in a “black body” within this world. As well as answering the question of how black men and woman can free themselves from history’s burden.

Socrates once said, “Perfection is constant change”. People live in a world that is constantly changing from the economy to the technology to even a person’s daily life. But, the one thing that has remained constant throughout time is the life struggle many minorities especially black Americans face in an embedded system of white supremacy. Father and author, Ta-Nehisi Coates, wrote “Letter to My Son,” published in 2015 in The Atlantic, argues in a letter to his 15-year-old son, that racism is very so prevalent and is due to the faults of white supremacy. Coates establishes his credibility (Ethos) with personal experiences and reputable background, citing plausible facts and personal accounts, while also efficiently utilizing emotional appeals

In Langston Hughes poem, “Let America Be America Again”, he describes the dream he has for America to exist at its fullest potential. His dream for freedom, equality, and true democracy is heard loud and clear throughout this work of art. However, the downfall is that America is yet to live up to the standards it so proudly “represents”. The issue roots in the gap between what America claims to be and what it actually is. In this poem, we see where this gap lies and the reality of America is revealed.

Humans write because it is a means of self-expression and communication that can be more powerful than verbal speech. When we read what others write, our minds open up to the writer’s experiences and in result will begin to feel empathy when we open our minds to others’ lives. The experiences that others write about help us all grow as people as well, because it prevents us from doing one of the most threatening things to mankind: repeating history. The importance of reading what others have wrote in the past is immense, because it teaches us how degrading life used to be for others, minorities in specific. For humans to repeat something as horrific as slavery could be possible, but what prevents it is the fact we are able to read about the

“I am the man, full of strength and hope”. Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes both wrote poems about america. Both men wrote about achieving the American Dream. They believed that the American Dream should be a opportunity for everyone instead of individual people. Hughes wrote his poem in the 1900s. Whitman wrote his poem in the 1800s. Both poems had a big part in the Civil Rights movement.

Ta-Nehisi Coates in his article, A Case for Reparations (2014), argues that reparations for the institutionalized racism, manipulation, and downright theft that society has exhibited towards African Americans since the years before an independent America even existed should hold an important place in today’s discussions regarding race. Coates supports his assertion by recounting the stories of victims of countless racist housing schemes, such as redlining, sharecropping, and “on contract” home sales, as well as illustrating the truth of white supremacy by writing, “When we think of white supremacy, we picture Colored Only signs, but we should picture pirate flags”(53). Coates’ purpose is to ignite discussion of reparations through mechanisms

In order for society to understand thoughts and opinions on change, a message needs to be powerful. Messages have to possess a fire that can spark people's mindset to believe and help create change. Langston Hughes, for example, has a fire that has the power to destroy societal negativity. In poetry, the flow of a poets words need to affect people's minds as if they are a hypnotist, and the hearts of the readers should soften. A strong and passionate voice can change events and conflicts, and in the poem “Let America Be America Again,” Langston Hughes displays a strong message with his work that can change a worldwide conflict, which is racism and segregation.