Is Let America Be America Again in a Book

Text [edit | edit source]

"Let America Be America Again" by Langston Hughes. This verse form was written on 1935 and originally published in Esquire Magazine in 1936. It was revised in 1938 for a collection of Hughes' poems entitled A New Song, which was published by the International Workers Order, an organization with close links to the American Communist Party.^[ane] The version analyzed here is from the Academy of American Poets website. Here is the poem as performed by Aldo Billingslea.

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Langston Hughes was an African-American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist who examined life in United States during the commencement part of the 20th Century, exposing oppression, discrimination, and inequality. Hughes was built-in on February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. Later on Hughes' parents divorced, he began living with his grandmother, Mary Langston, who encouraged him to sympathise the importance of racial issues in America, so he dedicated much of his work to celebrating African American civilization. The difficult experiences that he went through at a young age similar growing up during a time of segregation motivated him to write poems while he was at grammer school. Afterwards, while Hughes attended Central High Schoolhouse in Ohio, his Latin teacher taught him the importance of writing literature so he began writing for the paper and yearbook. He began writing short stories because books helped him escape from the hardships that he experienced. At the age of seventeen, he wrote his outset poem called "When Sue Wears Red."^[ii]

In the 1920s, Hughes became one of the leaders of the Harlem Renaissance, a congregation of African American artistic, intellectual, and political talent centered in the neighborhood of Harlem, New York. He became famous for defending racial integration around the world, especially with younger generations of Black writers, who considered Hughes as a defender of minorities' rights. One instance in point was his encouragement of Blackness Americans to join World War II because he believed it would help them obtain civil rights at a time of racial segregation in the United States. Hughes died on May 22, 1967 in Stuyvesant Polyclinic in New York City.^[2]

Analysis [edit | edit source]

The Statue of Liberty every bit symbol of the American Dream

The American Dream deferred: The sign "COLORED WAITING ROOM" illustrates Jim Crow in Durham, Due north Carolina in 1940.

The American Dream represents the liberty and freedom of Americans to pursue what makes them happy. Nevertheless, this American Dream has not been achievable for everyone. In the 1935 poem "Let America Exist America Again," written when the state was beginning to recuperate from the Great Depression and while Jim Crow segregation was still an everyday fact, Hughes examines the state of the American Dream to expose the brutal reality of inequality and servitude that minorities, the working course, and the poor experience in the U.s.a..

The verse form begins with a speaker wishing that America were immune to live to its ideals of liberty and equality so information technology tin be "the dream the dreamers dreamed" (line six), that is, "that great stiff land of love/Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme/That any man be crushed by one above" (seven-nine).

Meanwhile, a second intermixed voice suggests that he has never experienced the American Dream in his life: "America never was America to me" (5). The first speaker, curious, asks the second phonation to identify itself, and it responds that it is "the poor white, fooled and pushed apart"(19), "the Negro begetting slavery's scars"(twenty), "the cherry-red man driven from the country" (21), "the immigrant clutching…hope" (22) "the farmer, bondsman to the soil" (31), "the worker sold to the machine" (32), "the people, humble, hungry, hateful" (34), and "the man who never got alee,/The poorest worker bartered through the years"(37-38). The 2d vocalization represents all of those who take been oppressed, work for low wages, or serve others and they never see prosperity or appreciation. They observe it difficult to obtain basic necessities such as nutrient and dwelling to feel safe and secure, even though some are hard workers. Their housing, their education, and their health are all second-grade. They accept been excluded from achieving the American Dream, which for them has been replaced by "the same old stupid plan/Of dog eat canis familiaris, of mighty shell the weak" (23-24).

At this indicate the poem focuses on those powerful people who oppress poor people and never give them an opportunity to demonstrate who they actually are and how far they tin can become with their dreams. They are described every bit "leeches on the people's lives" (72) because they live off of the work and the hopes of others, giving petty in return. They blot the lifeblood of the workers, leaving them weak and vulnerable. Considering minorities and the poor practise not have advisable representation that could protect them from those "blood suckers," their opportunity to accomplish the American Dream disappears.

The speaker ends the poem by swearing an oath: the oppressed of America will ensure that America will live up to its ideals. He knows his demand for action will cause those who are against him to hate him ("certain phone call me any ugly name you choose"), but he will never surrender until the situation changes. He insists that "we must have back our land once again" past fighting for the rights all of us should enjoy equally.

In conclusion, Hughes' speaker demands the American Dream that he has never experienced. He demands that it come non only for him but besides for the many working form families that accept passed through situations like his. Fifty-fifty though he wrote this poem more a century ago, we continue to see how inequality keeps low-course families in the same spot, which leads to the overall poverty in America. One of these inequalities comes from education disparities so that poor and minority students are not getting support to succeed in their lives.

Farther Reading: Other Poems by Langston Hughes on Inequality in America [edit | edit source]

• "I, Too" (1925). A poem reminiscent of Walt Whitman'due south celebration of America in poems such as "I hear America singing," only written from the indicate of view of a segregated speaker. Here is a version where Hughes gives context to the poem and reads it out loud, with a small modification.
• "Song for a Dark Girl" (1927). A poem mourning the brutal lynching of a young black person in Dixieland. Here is the verse form turned into song by folk musician Leyla McCalla.
• "An Open Alphabetic character to the Due south" (1932). A plea from a black worker to the white workers of the Due south to overcome segregation and join forces confronting bosses and owners.
• "Harlem" (1951). Sometimes referred to as "A Dream Deferred," the poem identifies the consequences to the community of Harlem of continually postponing the accomplishment of the American Dream.

"America never was America to me": Educational Inequality in the Us [edit | edit source]

Having read and analyzed Langston Hughes' poem, I understand that the inequality we see today is non new in America; information technology has been happening for centuries. One major cause and effect of this inequality is the American educational system, where a child'southward instruction, and therefore their chances at achieving the American Dream is determined by their socioeconomic status.  In the United states of america, working class students—more often than not Latino and black—perform poorly because their teachers are less prepared, their schools do not have the resources for extracurricular instruction, and their parents exercise not have the money or resource to help their children succeed.

Quality teachers are essential in the classroom because when teachers are prepared, they tin guide students stride by step in the procedure of learning, which increases their chances to develop stiff habits of studying and succeed in school. However, in America, the less prepared teachers are mostly likely to be sent to poor neighborhoods where students are already struggling with their learning which decreases their chances to graduate from school. What is more, research demonstrates a disproportionate distribution of money, with schools with proficient performance receiving ameliorate resource.^[iii]

Courses Offered in Public High Schools, by School Poverty Level. Public high schools with more students in poverty and smaller schools provide fewer academic offerings to prepare for higher.

This trouble affects the whole schoolhouse arrangement because teachers with low resources and salaries often quit their jobs, affecting students' functioning, especially on standardized tests. Switching teachers in the classroom creates chaos for students because they go confused virtually the changes and fall behind.^[4] It is clear how the lack of experienced teachers and well-funded schools creates pedagogy inequality in America. The government could fix this problem by creating legislation that improves salaries and resources for all schools and so that educators stay in one schoolhouse and provide quality didactics, especially for minority students. Having effective teachers in the classroom would help students from working class families increment their test scores and achieve their goals.

Furthermore, students' progress is non dependent only on the hours of educational activity but on extra support like after schoolhouse programs or tutoring. Individualized pedagogy reinforces students' cognition and increases their ability to improve academically, so students will perform better on their standardized test scores which is ane of the requirements to earn a scholarship and finish their career. Unfortunately, for Latinos and African American students, in that location is a limit to how many programs they tin can participate in to increase their grades. Students who have a depression proficiency in reading English language are generally placed into special education classrooms or they stay in the aforementioned class for the following twelvemonth, which causes them to lose motivation in school.^[5] Moreover, land legislations and the authorities ended that because low-income families are unable to pay tuition their education is negatively impacted, thus increasing the partition between the rich and poor. The research also explains how residents select the corporeality of taxation grants for each schoolhouse when they elect a district board to collect taxes. This programme affects poor neighborhoods because schools with low performance will be receiving less funding from taxpayers.^[4]  The schoolhouse system must fix this problem because it is affecting students who accept the potential to earn their higher degree and be successful in life. Academic development requires a lot of time so students need boosted resources like tutors to increase their knowledge and amend their grades.

Many working form Black and Latino parents do not accept admission to essential resource such as books, electronic devices, and access to the Internet which makes information technology impossible for their children to turn in their assignments on time. Family size as well affects many minority students; considering their families share apartments with other family members or strangers, students exercise non have enough space to study and complete their assignments.^[3] Having limited access to resource leads parents to look for alternative schools where their children could take plenty gratuitous resources. In recent decades, charter schools take get a possible option for these parents because these schools provide nutrient, books and academic back up.^[6] It is disturbing to run into how Latinos and African American students and their parents do non receive enough support and supplies essential to succeed in schoolhouse. This makes academic disadvantages and inequality even worse.

Overall, minorities in America with depression income, especially Latinos and African American students, do not achieve their goals because educators do have enough experience and resources to provide support for minorities, creating a gap in education. These obstacles cause students to leave schools without a degree. Parents too are not able to provide their children with essential tools similar electronic devices which leaves their children behind on their assignments and causes poor functioning. The regime should address this issue by creating legislation that equally distributes funds for schools regardless of the students' race or socioeconomic status.

Further Reading: Educational Inequality in the United States [edit | edit source]

• Wikipedia contributors. "Educational inequality in the United States." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. A review of the history and main factors behind educational inequality.
• Gregor Aisch, Amanda Cox, and Kevin Quealy. "You Describe It: How Family Income Predicts Children's College Chances." The New York Times. May 28, 2015. An interactive nautical chart that requires the reader to judge the chances of a child going to college based on her family unit's income level earlier information technology reveals the correct answer.
• Motoko Rich, Amanda Cox, and Matthew Bloch. "Money, Race and Success: How Your School District Compares." The New York Times. April 29, 2016. A factual analysis of the learning gap based on race and income.
• Keith Meatto. "Still Separate, Still Unequal: Teaching about School Segregation and Educational Inequality." May 2, 2019. The New York Times. Civics lesson plan containing activities to investigate school segregation and educational inequality.
• Cory Turner. "New Studies Show The Pandemic Highlights Inequality In U.S. Education System." All Things Considered. National Public Radio. Dec x, 2020. A podcast discussing how the COVID-19 pandemic has widened the learning gap, creating a "lost generation" of low-income kids, more often than not from communities of color.
• Clea Simon. "How COVID taught America most inequity in pedagogy."The Harvard Gazette. July nine, 2021. This commodity points to possible educational reform now that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the disparity in educational resources.

References [edit | edit source]

1. ↑ Wikipedia contributors. "Let America be America Again." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Complimentary Encyclopedia, xvi Mar. 2021. Web.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Wikipedia contributors. "Langston Hughes." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 16 May. 2021. Web. 24 May. 2021.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Wei, Yehua Dennis et al. "Neighborhood, Race and Educational Inequality." Cities 73 (2018): i–13. Web.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Mantel, Barbara. "Teaching Funding." CQ Researcher, 31 Aug. 2018, pp. 705-28,library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2018083100.
5. ↑ Galster, George, Anna Maria Santiago, and Lisa Stack. "Uncomplicated School Difficulties of Low-Income Latino and African American Youth: The Office of Geographic Context." Journal of Urban Affairs 38.4 (2016): 477–502. Web.
6. ↑ Karaim, Reed. "Race and Instruction." CQ Researcher, 5 Sept. 2014, pp. 721-44, library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2014090500

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Source: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Themes_in_Literature/Isolation_and_Community/Let_America_Be_America_Again

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