Essay on The Harlem Renaissance

In the Gettysburg address, the late and former American President Abraham Lincoln asserted, Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal (Abraham Lincoln Online 1) to illustrate the America he held in his vision. Possibly, Langston Hughes, in the poem Let America be America Again had the same vision and hence showing disappointment on the oppression taking place on people from other races. The phrase Let America be America again presents a summary of the feeling of an immigrant or an individual from a minority group who desires a better America; an America that was fought for by the forefathers and an America that view each person as equal rather than inferior. It can be perceived as a representation of two sides of a coin by which one shows lost hope while the other the hope that the future might be bright for the oppressed. The speaker puts emphasis on America being America again by which the word again possibly implies the restoration of the vision that the oppressed had before experiencing challenges as a result of their differences. From an analytical perspective, the poem, America being America again by Langston Hughes, presents an illustration of the impact of marginalization on the minorities before their rights were fully considered in America.

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The speakers assert that America should resume its initial dream that was present among its pioneers on the aspects of freedom and equality whereby a person is free. The speaker then claims that (America never was America to me.) (Hughes 1) possibly to indicate that it did not fulfill his expectations of a better life. From his perspective, America needs to fulfill the visions that the visionaries had such that it exhibits strength and love for its people: "great strong land of love" (Hughes 7). He further explains that America should be absent of dictators or rather bad rulers that cause harm to its inhabitants and then jumps back to his statement about America not being America to him. The speaker wants an America that practices liberty in the sense that equality and opportunity are accorded to everyone. He then makes the claim the aspects of equality or freedom have never been part of his American experience. The poet then includes the questions: Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark? And who are you that draws your veil across the stars? (Hughes 17-18). The questions can be perceived to be from an identified person who wonders who the speaker is. The questions are answered by the speaker who asserts that he is an oppressed, marginalized white individual, a tortured slave from the African-American community, in addition to being a Native American who has been chased away from his land. He also identifies himself as an immigrant who bares the hope that the oppressed might overcomes the powerful in addition to being a young individual with the hope to get away from the aspects of greed that hold him. The speaker also identifies himself as a cultivator who is fully occupied on his land and a laborer who is unable to operate his machine. Furthermore, he perceives himself as a servant in addition to a marginalized individual bearing the struggles when leaving in a land that he had set his dreams upon. The speaker ends with a tone that is self-determined to create an America present in the vision of the pioneers.

The entire poem presents a contrast of the hopes that the poet had in America and the reality of what was taking place in its environs especially for individuals that differed in terms of race, social interactions, and religious affiliations. He puts into perspective the visions and hopes that people who went to America had with the view that their lives would change for the better and be able to fulfill their dreams. On the contrary, all their received was discrimination, oppression and being looked down against and hence not able to accomplish their dreams. In other words, America becomes a land of lost hopes and dreams instead of being a providing life-changing opportunity.

The speaker begins with the emphasis on America being restored to its initial place of equality and freedom while including the view that it has not been able to be good to him. Hughes asserts: Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed/ Let it be that great strong land of love/ Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme /That any man be crushed by one above, (Hughes 6-9) to imply that a better America only exists in peoples dreams. History records America as one that practiced subjugation and slavery in addition to getting rid of Native Americans for the purpose of occupying their lands. Instead of developing and progressing, the marginalized groups are put in oppressive positions such that they are unable to adequately exercise their freedom and liberty. Despite their efforts and contributions in terms of labor and skills, they do not enjoy the fruits of their labor but rather continue being subjected to discrimination.

The speaker highlights the fruits of living in America remain distant from the marginalized groups despite their efforts. He praises the visionaries that traveled to America for the purpose of improving their lives in addition to being accepted. He states: In the Old World while still a serf of kings/Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true/That even yet its mighty daring sings, (Hughes 40-42) possibly to illustrate the confidence of the people that dared to cross to America. The slaves and other immigrants played a crucial role in the development of America but yet remained under oppression after developing the " homeland of the free. The speaker asserts: The land thats minethe poor mans, Indians, Negros, ME Who made America/Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,/Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain/Must bring back our mighty dream again, (Hughes 75-79) to indicate that there is still hope for improvement in America despite the presence of marginalization and voracity. Regardless of America not being friendly to the speaker, the poem ends with a tone of hope and determination that America will be America again.

As stated earlier, from an analytical perspective, the poem, America being America again by Langston Hughes, presents an illustration of the impact of marginalization on the minorities before their rights were fully considered in America. It presents a summary of the experiences of the marginalized groups before the civil rights movement and the hope that the oppressed had regarding freedom and equality. From a personal perspective, America has made tremendous progress in trying to promote equality in its environments. However, there are still cases, a good example being the black lives matter movement, that show that inequality is still among the problems in America.

Work Cited

Abraham Lincoln Online,. "The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln". Abrahamlincolnonline.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 8 Mar. 2017.

Hughes, Langston. Let America be America Again with other Poems. New York: Vintage Books, 2004. Print.