Racism in America

Racism in America

Racism in America had resulted in the country deviating from the very principles it was founded upon. This inspired many people and thinkers over the coming decades to take a stand against racial bias and prejudice. These people understood the reasons prevalent behind this menace and highlighted the need for equality of all races.

America was founded on the values of equality of all races. This same value was the driving force for the millions of immigrants who came to U.S. in order to find a place where they would be able to live with equality, and find equal economic opportunities, not subjected to any bias or prejudice on the basis of color or race. However, this same value upon which the U.S. marveled, and cited it as making it different from the old European powers, was in fact never realized. The dream with which the various different nationalities and races of peoples came to U.S. could never be fulfilled, and they continued to find themselves living in a society whose norms were driven with bias and prejudice towards the colored races in almost all aspects of the society.

It has thus been the dream of these immigrants to find a society where they will face no prejudice on account of race. However, the very dreams with which they came to America were never fulfilled. A country that was founded on the principles of equality and freedom almost immediately deviated from its founding principles towards the road of racism and prejudice.

On person who realized the importance of the American dream not having been fulfilled was Langston Hughes, the famous American poet of the first half of the 20th century. His works were an attempt on his part which were very bold and courageous, to outline the significance of the American dream that had not been realized. He lamented that the promises that America as a nation had made to its people that they will not be prejudiced against on the basis of their races, was never fulfilled. This he termed as against the very founding ideology of America. The success of Hughes lay in identifying the factors responsible for the decaying American society which was due to issues such as race, economic exploitation and gender equality. Racism came out to be the most important issue as the black community and other minority classes continued to be prejudiced against in almost each and every aspect of the society. Hughes was vocal in calling for their rights to be recognized and they be allowed to progress equally like the other citizens by being allowed equal economic opportunities and other necessities like education (Bloom, 1989).

Hughes had realized that in order for the American society to be a just one, the bias towards the minorities especially towards the black Americans must end. He had the qualities that could make him a great poet, and he decided to use these qualities towards contributing his share by making the American society free of ...