The Speaker's Poem It Never Was America

The speaker declares that America should be America again; it should be the dream it once was for (3-4)”the pioneer on the plain seeking a home where he himself is free”. The speaker says in an aside, (5)"America was never America to me." He says America should go back to being the dream that the dreamers had, and be a (7)"great strong land of love." There should not be kings or tyrants or people being crushed by someone above them. The speaker repeats, (11)"It never was America to me." The speaker wants his land to realize liberty - not just by claiming to be patriotic but through opportunity and equality. The speaker claims that he has never experienced freedom or equality in America. Throughout the poem, the speaker contrasts his hopes for
He describes their struggles in America in that era. One of the groups he describes are Native Americans. (25)”I am the red man driven from the land” During the 1930s and 1940s a lot of work was done to help and support American Indians. (James Gregory)” The Indian Reorganization Act allowed tribes to write constitutions, reclaim elements of self-rule, and take steps to preserve and honor their cultures.” But at the same time American Indians were also the poorest people in America. In Washington during the time when the poem was written (James Gregory)” Collectively Indians had long been the state's poorest residents…” Today there are more than half a million Indians in the United States. (American Indian today) Economically they range from pauperism to affluence. Some are educated and completely assimilated in white society; while many live in nearly complete isolation from non-Indian Americans.” American Indians are now free to live anywhere in the U.S. An estimate shows that about 1/3 Indians live in the cities. (American Indian Today) So now days Indians are free than