Langston Hughes: How Much Longer Until Freedom?

How Much Longer Until Freedom?

Imagine a time when racism is not only systematically practiced, but also socially present in the United States; this moment in time could easily be nineteen fifty five or two thousand fifteen. The importance of this era lies in the elements that help us differentiate the past from the present. By simply asking yourself, what’s changed, you unlock the answer to the larger picture? As America developed so did its literature. Literature in song, film writing and journalism was and still is used to share stories, perspective and insights. That’s exactly what authors throughout the civil rights movement did. Without past works, America as a whole, including its literature would be hindered in development.

The civil

Public and private acts of violence towards “coloreds” was not only the norm but justified. Langston Hughes addresses these issues in many of his works through the time period. Hughes’s poem, “Let America be America again” speaks volumes to the African American experience socially, economically and culturally; and his hope for America to transform. Langston Hughes writes, “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 (Hughes).” Throughout this piece of literature, Hughes’ continually confesses his desire for America to be as promised. In just two simple but profound lines he manages to capture the African American experience in to a tee; he writes “There’s never been equality for me, nor freedom in this "homeland of the free (Hughes).”The civil rights movement, also known as the “black power era;” was a success legislatively, but not so much socially. During this time, a series of amendments were passed to ensure all American citizens had access to the same freedoms. “Civil rights activists used nonviolent protest and civil disobedience to bring about change, and the federal government made

It seems that slavery has merely transformed into the prison system, lynching into police brutality, and segregation into America’s everyday class systems. The very same laws crafted to protect the equal rights of American citizens, are the same laws that helped Mike Brown’s killer go un- prosecuted. The likelihood that an unarmed black person will be killed by police is twice as likely as a white person killed by police, according to the Guardian (Guardian). Unfortunately Mike Browns case was one of the few cases to reach national attention, similar to cases throughout nineteen fifty five and nineteen sixty five. The number of targeted and incarcerated African Americans continually grows. In America, “The prison population has increased from 300,000 to 2.3 million in the past 35 years, with blacks making up almost half that number (Reuters).” Langston Hughes’s dream of “equality in the air we breathe” hasn’t seemed to come true as of yet. “Public schools are more racially segregated now than 40 years ago; 39 percent of black students come from poor families (Reuters).” African Americans being profiled, targeted, killed, locked away and suffering from poverty isn’t new in the United States. This is America, The land of the free, home of the brave and a nation of anti- immigrant