Let america be America again

The poem "Let america be America again" by Langston Hughes, talks about the issues of america in the nineteen twenties. Such as gender and race discrimination. As well as the issues around poverty and wealth.

In the parentheses after almost every paragraph, the author makes a point. He says "America was never America to me anyway" meaning that he never thought of america as a dream land anyway. I think this might have to do with the fact that he was an African American man living in a time where you were judged by the colour of your skin. So he wrote that line in the parentheses to give us another reason he gave us this poem.

The poem illustrates the fact that America is not the dreamland it is supposed to be. It says that young men are taking what they want with no regard to the people suffering because of them. This specific stanza was a big help in figuring out the time this was written and it is clear that this was in the time of the great depression. America was most definitely not a dreamland-at least not for the lower class people-it was probably the opposite.

The final stanza talks about making America America again. I believe that it was so that he could encourage people to change the country. He says it in a poetic chant kind of way which makes you feel as if it is a protest. Langston Hughes really cared about his country.

The poem was a very complex work of writing. It was hard to understand at first but after learning some words I got a grip on what he was saying. His poem was really inspiring and it opened my eyes.