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Let America Be America Again By Langston Hughes

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“Let America Be America Again” is a poem written by Langston Hughes during the Great Depression in July 1936. The poem takes you from a dream, the American dream to reality by spreading the awareness that the “American Dream” is about freedom, equity, and prosperity. On the other hand, a dream is only as real as you make it, and the author along with Americans feels that it is just that a dream.

Throughout the poem, Lanston Hughes talks about the American dream and how different it is compared to the world he sees within the United States. Many of the people mentioned in the poem are born Americans getting treated differently as stated in (stanza 8) “I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart, I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars. I am the red man driven from the land, 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.” Where there is no freedom, no equity, and prosperity at the cost of countless people being left behind, can’t be the dream they hope to perceive. Hughes stands on that America never was America to me put insight that he was never at peace with America, at least not the way he picture it. …show more content…

Freedom is one of the many broken pieces, he wants America to be America again such as the American dream. Subsequently, as the other characters mentioned, they can’t hope to have that without equality. “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. (There’s never been equality for me, Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.” Even if America claims to be free for the free, as Hughes would put it, freedom is close but not

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In the poem, “ Let America be America again”, Langston Hughes asserts that America does not live up to what it actually should be. Hughes’ tone seems to be angry and [exasperated]. He implicates the perspective of one particular group, but many people. The poem represents that many people come here with high hopes and big dreams but they are let down. He states that [prosperity] is one of the reasons that there is an economic inconsistency where the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer.

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The purpose of “Why, You Reckon?” by Langston Hughes is to accurately display, through the times of that century and human emotion, that despite money, power, and the color of your skin there can still be an unhappiness of the soul. There is evidence in the beginning of the short story of two men’s unhappiness in life the symbol of them being uncontent was their hunger. “Man, ain’t you hongry.... Well, sir, I’m tellin’ you, I was so tired and hongry and cold that night.” (253- 254).

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He talks about how it was supposed to have complete equality but, there was no freedom or equality, it was not the dream it was dreamt to be. That is how Hughes explains that America is not free and

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Langston Hughes once said “Let America be America Again”. What does he mean by what he quoted? “I hear America Singing” is a poem written by Walt Whitman and these two poems have similarites and diffrences. These two poems have a lot of similarites.

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This is derived from the fact that the African Americans, Native Americans, and other nationalities suffered from slavery and were brought from their native land to this foreign terrain. They were treated as property; traded and sold based on their nationalities and were not considered as equal human beings. In the third line of the poem where Hughes says, “Let it be the pioneer on the plain”, he is touching on the fact that certain people were not considered

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In comparison with Langston Hughes poem, American rapper Kanye West uses a more unorthodox way of expressing of he feels about the American Dream in his song ‘made in America’. As a homosexual, black American born in the early nineties, it is not a wrong observation that life could not have been too easy for Langston Hughes. He states in his poem that, “there’s never been equality for me, nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”” He by that means, that he has never experienced equality, nor freedom, even

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Langston Hughes was an American poet during the nineteenth century, best known for his writing of "Harlem," "Let America Be America Again," and "On the Road. " Hughes' literary work typically highlighted the harsh reality of racism between white and black American citizens during the early 1900s. Through his short story "On the Road," Hughes spread awareness through a new perspective that showed the African Americans' side of a complex time in history. Following the protagonist, Sargeant, the reader gets a first-hand experience of living in America as a person of color.

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The theme of the poem, “Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes is about equality. There are multiple reasons and quotes hinting to why it's about Equality. For example, Hughes states in his poem, “There has never been equality for me, nor freedom in this “homeland of the free”” (15-16). From this quote we can see that he thinks everything isn’t equal. He put quotes around the homeland of the free to make it seem sarcastic.

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America is well known as the land of the free and the home opportunity. Although it is said everyone is equal in every way, that has not always been the case. Langston Hughes is a poet who tried to emphasize the idea of equality among all human beings. Hughes underlined the basis of the American Dream with what is and what should be in the societal era he lived in. In hindsight he believed his poems helped others realize the injustices that all minorities had to face during this era.

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The American Dream is a concept deeply embedded in the culture of the United States, and constantly feeds the imagination of people throughout history. From early America to today the American Dream exists among us and we all work towards it. The poem, "Let America Be America Again," by Langston Hughes and Yasmina Shaush's essay, "The American Dream Lives On," show different perspectives on the desired American Dream. While Hughes's poem reflects on the lies of the American Dream, Shaushs essay shows the optimisms and good behind the American Dream. The works "Let America Be America Again" and "The American Dream Lives On" present contrasting perspectives on the American Dream and its impact in American society.

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This quote explains that the author is showing the reader that these people are not true Americans, because they treat this man differently because of his race. Another example in the poem is, "They'll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed, I too sing America." (Hughes 16-18) The author is showing the reader that no matter what color or religion someone may be, they still are considered to be an

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was not only a leader of the civil rights movement, but also a beacon of hope for millions of Americans. If he were alive today, he would undoubtedly stand in support of the notion of reparations for the descendants of enslaved Black Americans. As a visionary, he would have proposed a comprehensive and nuanced plan to address the issue, one that would make a lasting impact on the lives of those who have suffered the injustices of slavery. " Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream. " These words, spoken by Dr. King in his "I Have a Dream" speech, capture the spirit of what would be his vision for reparations.

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Racism has been around for a very long time. It’s effect America’s history a lot. Throughout the years’ racism has improved but it’s still improving. African Americans have struggled a lot with prejudice. Prejudice is an adverse judgment formed without knowledge of the facts.

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At this time, the dream was equality and being accepted as citizens of the United States. Hughes felt that this goal of liberty and quality for African Americans was very hard to reach or match. A poem that resembles this thought well is titled “Youth”, where Hughes writes, “We have tomorrow… Bright before us… Like a flame” (Hughes 39). This poem has a lot of analysis towards the American Dream.

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The content humans consume can have a great impact on their opinions regarding the world around them. In reading literature or consuming content about a specific culture, people may form their opinions about that group being portrayed based on the content they are exposed to. This greatly contributes to the formation of stereotypes, as works of fiction about a group that are not written by someone from that culture often do not represent the group accurately, which leaves people with an inaccurate idea of that group that they will likely never revisit, resulting in a negative stereotype. Incorporating multiethnic literature into the classroom, and consuming it in other contexts, will allow readers to gain a new perspective on the world, as

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