Setting

The setting of the poem “Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes is the United States of America. The speaker describes America as a place that has failed to help its people, particularly those belonging to the working class. 

The speaker contrasts the ideal image of America with the reality he witnesses. He talks about an America that should be “that great strong land of love/Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme/That any man be crushed by one above” (ll. 7-9) and a place where “opportunity is real, and life is free,/Equality is in the air we breathe” (ll. 13-14). The reality that the speaker witnesses, however, is different. 

The speaker presents issues like slavery, exploitation of industrial workers, the ill-treatment of immig...