Let America be America Again.

[holboz]

In light of all the scandals with the Bushco administration, the expansion of policies that favor big businesses over the average working man, and the general consensus that our country is not on the right track, it's probably time to revisit this classic. I think it's particularly poignant after Hurricane Katrina reminded Americans that we still have a big problem with poverty in this country.

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.)

Read the rest at http://www.poemhunter.com/p/m/poem.asp?poem=32567

[Goldeneye]

1. I love that poem.

I read it to my comm class as an "interpretive speech." I'm not really sure if they made any connections, but I tried.

I like the end the best...it's so hopeful.

"Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain--
All, all the stretch of these great green states--
And make America again! "

[bluedawg12]

2. Some people think shurb is lord.

http://www.bushislord.com/

Let America be America again.
Let the corporations pay taxes as they used do .
Let it not be the oil rig on the plain
Seeking a home from clear cutting let the dear find a forest.

Let America be the dream of good education--
Let it be that great strong land free of nature's exploitation.
Where never CEO's connive nor globalization schemes prevail.
That any man be crushed by a ruinous whisper from KKKRove

No matter what party you support, this man is just wrong

Democrats now need our help in donations and getting out the vote.

This country belongs to all of us.

[Village Idiot]

3. I doubt America was EVER the America these people seem to remember.

I have ALWAYS seen it as the greedy, apathetic, morally corrupt wasteland that we KNOW it to be today. The government used to have the ability to HIDE the facts a bit better, before...

[alcibiades_mystery]

4. That's the point of the poem

Langston Hughes wasn't exactly a rose-glasses apologist for the American illusion...

[seemslikeadream]

5. Great video by Eric Blumrich with Langston's poem

http://www.bushflash.com/pax.html