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Let America Be America Again

Langston Hughes' poem "Let America Be America Again" criticizes the false image of America as a perfect nation without problems. It highlights issues of racism, oppression, and inequality that have existed in America since its founding and continue today. The poem expresses a longing for America to live up to its ideals of equality, but notes these ideals are still not fully realized, as demonstrated by current intolerance. It serves as both a criticism of America's past faults and a call for change to make the nation truly equal and just for all.

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577 views3 pages

Let America Be America Again

Langston Hughes' poem "Let America Be America Again" criticizes the false image of America as a perfect nation without problems. It highlights issues of racism, oppression, and inequality that have existed in America since its founding and continue today. The poem expresses a longing for America to live up to its ideals of equality, but notes these ideals are still not fully realized, as demonstrated by current intolerance. It serves as both a criticism of America's past faults and a call for change to make the nation truly equal and just for all.

Uploaded by

Viviana
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Viviana Velandia Arenas


English Literature I

Let America Be America Again


By Langston Hughes

When I started to read this poem, my first impression was related to all those ideas
of perfection that people give us. Many times we have the impression that United
States is a great country without any imperfections, and from my point of view, that is
because the american ego, since in movies they give the impression of being the
nation who has the last word or maybe who will save the world. And that's the reason
people believe that USA is a country full of opportunities, and people go there with
the hope of carving out an equal piece of wealth and acceptance. Sometimes people
took their their belongings and go there chasing the American dream.

The poem begins with Hughes yearning for America to be the America it once was;
however, he sarcastically show us that the image of America is patently false. At the
beginning Americans practiced slavery and oppression, they had racist practices;
which were slowly destroying the land native peoples in order to build their
settlements by impoverishing and through violence creating inequality. It is curious
that the author points to these problems, since this is something still seen in
America, people arrive there with the idea of successful, but the reality is different
because in most of the cases they has to face racism, accept low paid jobs and their
children has to deal with bullying in schools, so is curious that he points to these
types of problems at that time, since in retrospect have not changed many things at
this time, currently Donald Trump is a great example of intolerance and ego.

In Let America be America Again Langston Hughes demonstrated his ideas and
gave his examples by using abstract language. He used abstract language to give
the words he used a bigger meaning and use them in ways that most people would
not use. He gives things and objects a bigger meaning. Also he gives animals
deeper meanings for example the word leeches he uses it to demonstrate how the
political people and the whites are sucking everything the other cultures have and
keeping it for themselves. (Richardson, 2013) This is very interesting, because
America has emerged as a nation since they are like pinwheels. They take things
from other countries and appropriate them, in some cases they improve things that
they take from other places.

This poem is a criticism not only of what was happened long time ago in the United
States, but also what is happening today in that country. It is a desperate cry of those
who seek equality in every aspect, it is a call to change and clear their own
prejudices. The author states emphatically, "We must take back our land again, /
America!" (Hughes, 1936) Even if America is now currently plagued by discrimination
and greed, the author believe that it can be improved. Thus, the poem ends on an
optimistic, powerful note of self-determination and perseverance.

Bibliography

Richardson, A (2013). My Analytical Essay on Let America be America Again by


Langston Hughes | Andres Richardson's Blog. [online] Available at:
http://www.asfmtech.org/16richardson5183/2013/02/01/essay/ [Accessed 5 Nov.
2016].
Hughes, L. (1936). Let America Be America Again

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