Let America Be America Again

Today I took some visiting friends to Busboys on 14th and V. Of course the food delicious, but my visitors also enjoyed the atmosphere. As I was taking it all in for myself I couldn't help but to notice an excerpt of a Langston Hughes poem entitled Let America Be America Again. In this poem Hughes mentions words like dream, liberty, immigrant, strength, and hope. Each of these words carries a deeper meaning, not just for Hughes, not just for the mistreated and underprivileged, but for the world. With the opening of the Martin Luther King JR memorial the idea of having a powerful dream and being able to see it come to fruition has been on my mind. In the case of Langston Hughes his dream was a dream that he never saw come to fruition. A dream for the lower class. Wanting, hoping, waiting for something more than below the status quo. Something more than being treated like you're not a whole person. All many of us have ever wanted is to be treated equally nothing special, nothing extra, but to be treated with respect equally regardless of race, creed, gender, ethnicity or sex.

How can America be America again. We must first measure what made Americathe America in the first place and take not of how far we have fallen. A nation founded by immigrants the first day, now treating its immigrants as second class citizens today. How far have we fallen? But how can we expect immigrants to be treated any better when we have native born American citizens treated less and unfairly simply because of the color of their skin. How far have we come on the issue of race?

While reading these powerful words we must also consider the changes that have occurred in American. What is our ideal America? Do the words of the great Langston Hughes still resonate with us today? How free are we today? Below is an excerpt of the poem. Let us know what you think.

--Krystal


Let America Be America Again

by Langston Hughes

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

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.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark? 
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

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--
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one's own greed!

For the complete poem check out the site here