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Communism

Given its thematic investment in class solidarity and collective action, it’s important to consider Hughes’s poem in relation to Communism. Briefly defined, Communism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for transferring power from the ruling elites to the working classes, typically by way of revolutionary action. In the early decades of the twentieth century, it was common among many Black writers and artists to sympathize with the goals of Communism. Many of these figures thought Communism offered a legitimate path for ending all forms of racist oppression that had continued to affect Black life long after the abolition of slavery. Langston Hughes numbered among those Black intellectuals who felt an affinity for Communist ideals, and he wrote many poems, stories, and articles on the subject. He did most of this writing in the 1930s, around the same time he wrote “Let America Be America.” Though much of this work flew under the radar at the time, they were collected much later in the volume Good Morning, Revolution, from 1973. The Communist spirit of class solidarity and collective action is central to this writing and can be strongly felt in “Let America Be America” as well.

The Harlem Renaissance

Langston Hughes wrote “Let America Be America Again” in 1935, about a decade after he’d secured his legacy as a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance refers to a major explosion of Black intellectual and artistic activity that erupted in the 1920s. Though centered on the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, the Renaissance had an international reach that witnessed the flowering of Black intellectual discourse, literature, visual art, music, and fashion. All these forms of cultural and artistic production sought to challenge racism, subvert predominant stereotypes, and develop a progressive new politics that advanced Black peoples and promoted integration. At the center of the Harlem Renaissance stood the figure known as the New Negro. The “Old Negro” remained hampered by the historical trauma of slavery. The “New Negro,” by contrast, possesses a renewed sense of self, purpose, and pride. Langston Hughes contributed to this vision of the New Negro through his poetry. Admittedly, the speaker of “Let America Be America Again” encompasses a broad perspective that includes many points of view, and not just a Black point of view. However, it’s ultimately his experience as a Black man that enables Hughes’s polyvocal critique of American unfreedom.

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