3 minute read
WhoWeWereThen
AMERICA THE GREAT, AMERICA THE DREAM
Long before there was MAGA, there was this. Read carefully.
Advertisement
Let America Be America Again
By Langston Hughes, July 1936
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! I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil. I am the worker sold to the machine. I am the Negro, servant to you all. I am the people, humble, hungry, mean— Hungry yet today despite the dream. Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers! I am the man who never got ahead, The poorest worker bartered through the years ...
To read the whole poem and listen to the audio version recorded by Princeton journalist Nick Young, visit fourfreedomsandbeyond.com
OPINION
On July 3 this year, a full-page black and white ad appeared in the New York Times. The headline read, “WE ARE THE FOUNDERS: An open letter to all who believe in democracy.” It began with these words: “Imagine our families are safe, we have everything we need, our communities are thriving, we all belong, we honor and respect each other’s humanity, we are all free, and there is enough for everyone. This is not a fairy tale, but a glimpse at the future we can create together.”
This message attracted attention like many other full-page ads in an election year. It invited readers to “join us in the practice of freedom — a space of dreaming — with an understanding of your true power and birthright, not only to dream to make those dreams a reality.”
“We know that it’s our birthright to advance a more just and fair vision that includes all — even those with a different vision for our future.”
Here in rural middle America, the words looked inspirational, like the rhetoric of other groups who have been trumpeting the value of “honoring those who came before us to make those rights and freedoms possible.”
It’s as though the writers of that open letter did so in direct response to both Langston Hughes’s poem and the “Make America Great
Again” slogan that has captured the attention of so many of our friends and neighbors.
Some readers visiting the We Are The Founders’ website are likely to strongly disagree with many of the strategies to reach the goals identified by the organization.
Continued on page 7
Who Said It?
“I like to think our grand democratic experiment, though flawed, doggedly aspires to something better for all. We began with slavery but fought to extinguish it. Women were denied the vote. It was corrected. When fascism threatened the entire free world, we defeated it.”
