Let America be America again analysis
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 people should be treated equally when looking for job opportunities, at the voting booths, and in public society itself. Langston Hughes thoughts of what America should be during this current state are relevant in the way that they refer to all people being treated equally and how in Americas currents state equality is greatly needed.
To continue on Langston Hughes talks about what the American Dream is and who conceived it. The American dream was the dream of a land where there would be complete peace and equality. This dream was conceived by all the people who came over to this land to build America from the ground up; these people would be known as the first Americans. The dream of building a country from the ground up that would be both peaceful and have equality for everyone was an extremely daring task for these people. This is because they had to turn on their own previous countries and declare their own independence.
The first Americans saw this as a very important thing to do if they were going to build America to be the country of equality that they dreamed of. Furthermore, there were also some people who distorted the American dream by searching for their own personal success. The people that distorted the American dream would be the slave owning Americans themselves. They did not create slavery just with the intentions of having colored people as personal helpers, it was more towards gaining success in large corporations and companies.
The more slaves you could have the more products your company would be able to produce, and during Americas current growing state a variety of products were needed in high demand. Therefore the American dream was distorted by the Americans whom were slave owners. Large corporations and companies like tobacco and cotton plantations also contributed to the building of America. It’s not the companies or corporations themselves that just contributed to the building of America but the people who worked for them. This would include all white, colored, and slave workers.
The ways that these companies are not free is due to the fact that some of them use slaves and discriminated against colored people during this time. If companies within America are not treating people equally, then America is not seen as a country of equality and freedom. Langston Hughes also shows us his mood throughout the poem while he is explaining his thoughts. Hughes mood would be one of anger and resentment because America is not turning out to be the land that it was promised to be, or the land that many people dream of for him.
Hughes keeps this mood from the begging of the poem to the end of the poem in hopes that he will get his point across to the rest of America. His goal by writing this poem the way he did was mainly to express his ideas of how he feels America should be currently. Those ideas are not real for many people in America during this time due to their race, economic situation, or where they were raised. This poem is relevant to today because there is still some discrimination in our county, but the amount or intensity of this has greatly decreased over the years.
It is also relevant in the way that it refers to our country being a free county. The American dream has also changed throughout America’s history because during different time periods our countries goals have changed. For example at the begging of America our goal was to create a land of equality and peace, but then shortly after many people were taken over by greed and changed their goals for personal success and making money. These would be the white exploiters who could also be recognized as slave owners or discriminators, and the exploited would be the minority of colored people and slaves.
What we could change to fit today’s society would be to get rid of the level of discrimination that there was during this time in history, as well as abolish slavery completely. No the dream is not still viable because Langston Hughes dreams were for equality and for the people to be protected equally under the same laws and law enforcement. In the end it’s truly up to everyones individual self to live their lives, due to the fact that America does not completely control our lives.
