Let America Be America Again By Langston Hughes: Poem Analysis
Across the world, the word America stands for freedom and opportunity. It is called the American Dream: the idea that anyone can climb up from the trenches of society and stand on top of the mountain of success. However, the American Dream is nothing more than a dream. As Langston Hughes depicts throughout many of his works with the use of the motif inequality, the American Dream is an illusion performed by the magicians also known as America’s political leaders. He exploits how life in America for those not deemed as the upper white class is in reality a nightmare. In the poem “I, Too,” Hughes speaks of the inequality faced by the African American race in order to emphasize the community’s social immobility. Hughes begins the poem by
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Throughout the poem, Hughes “Pleads for fulfillment of a Dream that never was” (Presley). Hughes discusses what America is supposed to mean, but then states “It was never America to me” (189). It was never America for him because the moral beliefs and social liberties that are granted by simply being American did not apply to him because of his race. However, the social neglect does not only apply to the African American community, but to all communities that are not deemed as the upper class white American community. Therefore, Hughes presents that “The American Dream is bruised and often made a travesty for Negroes and other underdogs” (Presley). Hughes writes “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” (190). As Hughes ironically depicts, the American Dream built upon the hopes of foreigners and American minorities should be remanded to the Rich White Male Reality, for they are the sole group that can attain such dream in America. The majority of America, poor farmer, African Americans, Native American, and immigrants from all around the world, are stepped on and pushed to the side so that the minority can reach success and attain the glory that beams with the American
Throughout the poem, Hughes “Pleads for fulfillment of a Dream that never was” (Presley). Hughes discusses what America is supposed to mean, but then states “It was never America to me” (189). It was never America for him because the moral beliefs and social liberties that are granted by simply being American did not apply to him because of his race. However, the social neglect does not only apply to the African American community, but to all communities that are not deemed as the upper class white American community. Therefore, Hughes presents that “The American Dream is bruised and often made a travesty for Negroes and other underdogs” (Presley). Hughes writes “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” (190). As Hughes ironically depicts, the American Dream built upon the hopes of foreigners and American minorities should be remanded to the Rich White Male Reality, for they are the sole group that can attain such dream in America. The majority of America, poor farmer, African Americans, Native American, and immigrants from all around the world, are stepped on and pushed to the side so that the minority can reach success and attain the glory that beams with the American