Kerry Campaign Theme Taken From Poem About Black American Struggles

By Jimmy Moore
Talon News
May 21, 2004

Likely Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry has chosen a campaign theme he claims will hearken back to a time when America was stronger than it is now.

The theme "Let America Be America Again" was chosen by the Kerry campaign to symbolize the hope for a better tomorrow the Massachusetts senator says he would bring to this country as president.

According to the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Kerry said America can be strong again under his leadership through "optimism" and "a return to the sense of community."

"Talking about 'Let America be America again' is tapping into that value system that people think makes this country strong," Kerry explained to the Wall Street Journal.

Promoting his ideas for improving America, Kerry said his policies will reinstitute the strengths America was once known for.

"What is it that makes us strong, and what do we have to do to get that back, to let America be America?," Kerry asked. "Strength means people being able to do better in their jobs. Strength means having the courage to stand up to special interests that steal the agenda here in Washington. Strength is fighting to have health coverage for children."

The "Let America Be America Again" theme is derived from a poem written by Harlem Renaissance-era poet Langston Hughes.

Ironically, though, Hughes laments in the poem by the same name that "America never was America to" him because he was a black man.

"There's never been equality for me, Nor freedom in this 'homeland of the free," Hughes wrote in his poem.

Hughes' poem was directed specifically to African-Americans, as most of his poetry was, who had worked the land in the early days of America while the white man took credit for the work performed by the slaves.

The Bush reelection campaign already unveiled its campaign theme in March.

As reported by Talon News, the "Steady Leadership in Times Of Change" theme was chosen to focus on President George W. Bush's leadership in the war against terrorism, leading the country through a recession, and the creation of new jobs.

"We're living in a time that's unlike anything we've ever seen before, so the economy is different, the economic challenges are different, we're living in a world of global insecurity and a war on terrorism, and so this whole idea of steady leadership is, I think, important to voters," remarked Bush campaign strategist Mark McKinnon, who came up with the slogan, to the Boston Globe.

He added, "And when they think about steady leadership, they're going to look at two choices, and they're going to think, 'Who is going to provide that steady leadership?' and we think it's President Bush."

Kerry campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said Bush's slogan is laughable because she claims he has not been a good leader for the United States.

"The only thing steady about this president is his steadily leading our country in the wrong direction," Cutter exclaimed to the Boston Globe. "It's time for a change in America, and time to get things back on track."

Bush aide Karen Hughes said the Democrats want Americans to forget about how well Bush led following the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001.

"I can understand why some Democrats might not want the American people to remember the great leadership and strength the president and first lady Laura Bush brought to our country in the aftermath of that," Hughes commented to ABC.

Hughes said the war on terrorism will still remain regardless of who the next president of the United States is.

"Because of that day, we are still engaged in a war against terror, a war that will be going on under the next president," she added to ABC. "And it's important that the next president recognize and understand that."

At press time, the Bush campaign had not commented on Kerry's new campaign theme.