Let America Be America Again By Langston Hughes

America is known to be the country of liberty. The definition of Liberty is simply the reason America was created; it is a place where everyone is treated equal with hopes of achieving their American dream. As a result, many people dream of coming to live in the wonderful country known for its freedom. However, America does not seem to hold that value as it used to. In the poem “Let America Be America Again”, the poet Langston Hughes expresses his disappointment with the country. The poem was written in 1935 where discrimination and inequality still exist. In the poem “Let America Be America Again”, the poet Langston Hughes uses repetition and alliteration in order to show desirement for a better country and disappointment of the country America came to be, and also imagery in order to exemplify the struggles of those who came to live in country they thought was dream.

My people is one of Langston Hughes’ poems which is about working class black African American people. In this poem, he compared the beauty of nature to the beauty of his people. My people is a very short poem, built in three stanzas which consist of two lines in each stanza. This poem was written in simple language, therefore, the readers can easily understand what he is trying to convey. I believe, beneath its simple words, this poem depicts the beauty of working class black African American people that go beyond the beauty of physical appearance.

In the poem “Refugee in America” written in 1947 by an African American named Langston Hughes, the author, would say how words like Freedom and Liberty were sweet and wonderful for him to say, and that they would almost make him cry. He would also say that if

In Langston Hughes poem “Let America be America Again” he talks about how America should return to the way that it was perceived to be in the dreams before America was truly America. Throughout the poem he uses various methods to evoke the patriotic images and dreams that he feels America should and will eventually be. Hughes states that America is supposed to be a place of equality for everyone including both white and colored people. During this period in time though there was not equality for everyone. Hughes talks about an America where both whites and colored people will have equality in all aspects socially, politically, and economically. What Hughes is saying is that both whites and colored

Langston Hughes, “I too, Sing America” chronicles an African-American male’s struggle with patriotism in an age of inequality and segregation in the United States. The poem cleverly uses metaphors to represent racial segregation faced by African-Americans during the early twentieth century. The speaker presents a battle cry for equality and acceptance, and his words are a plea and a declaration for nationalism and patriotism. Although, the poem does not directly imply racism, the speaker’s language suggests that he equates the kitchen to racial discrimination by the general American society. His word usage signals his wish to participate in a land that he proudly claims as his own despite his personal experiences of rejection. Despite

America is arguably the most robust country and yet it also one of many countries where we are not all free. In the poem "Let America Be America Again" Langston Hughes shows his opinion of America and declared that America has never been great and never will be if there is varied equality among the ethnics and their social classes. Learned Hand announced “That spirit of an American which has never been, and may never be; nay, which never will be except as the conscience and courage of Americas create it”, her he feels that America is only as good as the common people in it, therefore, Americas future lies in our hands and the way we use it. Both Langston Hughes and Learned Hand presumed that America has never been great yet, Hand is unsure on whether America has the potential to change their ways but, Langston Hughes let out his emotions exclaiming” America never was America to me, and yet I swear this oath America will be! These two Americans have shown how they feel and believe that we can only be a magnificent country if we believe

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.

He said “ let my land be a land where liberty is covered with no false patriotic wreath. ” In this qoute hes saying that the land of america or any other land should be everyone 's land. Everyone should have the same privilege, equality is one bing role of being an american. He also talk about how people don 't really care about being patriotic, meaning people don 't care about the culture of america or not respecting the nationality of their land. I agree with Langston Hughes because everyone wants liberty,freedom but they are just “Americans” because they live here and pretending they care for the nationally of America. The idea of being patriotic to your country means a lot to many people because it means that you actually care for your country. As Susan Noyes said in her poem “Patriot Dreams” , she said “ flags were flown and pledges spoken .” Susan is saying that people were proud of their country and would actually care to sing the national anthem back then. Now and days many people don’t even know the song or what it means to be a TRUE AMERICAN. Teenagers these days don’t even get up to do the pledge of allegiance because they don 't know the meaning of it or why do they need to that. When it comes to the topic of patriotic, most of us will readily agree that is has not been the same as years go by. Where this agreement ends,however,is on the question of the americans.whereas some are convinced that

     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.

Written in the first half of the 20th century, “Let America Be America” is a poem that documents and responds to the oppressed state of the United States, in both the past and present. The poem is a plea for a return to the original principles of freedom that our country has seemingly forgotten. Additionally, the speaker sees America as the broken home to oppressed people who have lost sight of the ultimate goal of freedom and happiness. Although America is often perceived as the “land of the free,” Langston Hughes’s poem contradicts this ideology by not only painting a vivid picture of oppression in America but also by providing a desperate hope for the future.

His poem, “Let America Be America Again”, questioned the American promise by structuring the poem so it can be read from the perspectives of different types of people in America, especially those persecuted, and it enlightened people on how a large population of immigrants and others did not have the life everyone guaranteed in America. He also strengthened this idea by repeatedly stating “America was never America to me” (127). This statement implies that the American promise was never real and most immigrants never experienced any of the positive freedoms of living in

In the fight for equality, people of color often feel isolated and separated from those whose privilege reinforces their oppression. However, there are and always have been white people who see the inequalities that are practiced in society and speak out against them in hopes of reaching equality for all. Langston Hughes used his voice in poetry to express his experience as a black man in the United States during the Civil Rights Movement, and his is a household name. There is no doubt that his words have power. The reader expects to feel his experience and gain empathy and understanding through his poetry. In his poem, “Let America Be America Again,” Hughes presents his experience of American life in a powerful contrast to the experience

I think the poem Let America be America Again but Langston Hughes is about who he want America to be what it never was, a place of equality and opportunity. He writes about how though it may be for the privileged, but not for the rest of America. He starts with lines such as “Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed- Let it be that great strong land of love”, only to invalidate it with a line like “(It was never America to me)”.

The poem “I, Too” by Langston Hughes is very similar to the prologue of Invisible Man. These two pieces bring awareness to the concept of not being seen due to the color of your skin. In the poem, Hughes refers to himself as “the black brother [and] they send [him] to eat in the kitchen” (2-3) They send him to eat in the kitchen when company comes because he is black and they can not see him as another human being because of that. The narrator of Invisible man also struggles to be seen as just another human being. In an altercation with a white man “it occurred [to the narrator] that the man had not seen [him]” (Ellison, 4). The man had just seen his skin color and refused to treat him with any respect or dignity. In these two different pieces,

Langston Hughes was an African American author well known for his poems and writing. Hughes lived from 1902-1967 and started writing at a very young age. His parents divorced when he was young and his father left to go live in Mexico. Hughes was raised by his grandmother till he was thirteen then left to live with his mother and new husband. He went to many places and also had many jobs during his time. Hughes created a lot of literature but his poem I, Too, Sing America is one of his poems that really stands out to me. This poem was published in 1995, which was before the Civil Rights Era and after the Harlem Renaissance.