Let America Be America Again Essay

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Langston Hughes was a poet, play writer, fiction writer, and novelist who spent most of his early years with his grandmother. His grandmother spent her time with him telling him stories of the past. Resultantly, he was instinctually drawn to African American culture. He later wrote stories, biographies and poems about black lives in America. Langston is very well known for his views on black lies from the twenties all through the sixties and was an important figure in shaping contributions of the Harlem Renaissance. One of his poems that has been a great figure of the twentieth century literature is "Let America Be America Again". In this poem, Hughes argues that America has never been the way it was set to be founded as, the history behind …show more content…

He wants equality, and freedom which are the goals that the United States was claimed upon having. He craves a world with peace and equality. Hughes hints that people come to America to achieve their dreams because they were not able where they used to live. People dream of a place with freedom, to be able to chose and be accepted. It isn't only about tolerating situations but getting through them and being accepted for the decision they make and to not be judged by the decision they make. The writer thinks America has never really satisfied these perfect qualities and proposes that America is as yet a place brimming with disappointment and restrictions. Hughes used the line, "I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart" to begin one of his stanzas by giving small bits of knowledge into the lives of various tenants of America like the rich who would bash the poor (Hughes, 19). In this stanza he is alluding to how African Americans still needs to manage the inconveniences that they had during slavery, for example, segregation and racism. People have fundamentally moved to America due to its guarantee for a more secure way of life and the ability to maybe exercise some level of opportunity over their life. When they arrive, they come across the same form of society they had initially attempted to