"America never was America to me."

"America never was America to me."
The America Hughes describes in the past tense is not the land that the Constitution claims it would be but rather it's a land where the rich take advantage of the poor and the rich only get richer. Lagston Hughes is describing how America never was the land of the free or opportunity but he does state it's possible for it to be changed into the land shaped around the American Dream.
"Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed - Let it be that great strong land of love."

The America Hughes calls for is a land of true opportunity where the average working man has opportunity, freedom and a chance at happiness. When he says: "I am the people, humble, hungry, mean-" He's giving voice to the entire African American population and saying that this is what they all want. A chance to rise, to live comfortably and financial security.
The overall tone of the poem feels like a critique of America and where it is now, displeased with the America that has arisen, nothing close to what was promised in the Constitution. There is also a tone of hopefulness in parts of the poem, hope that America can be a land of liberty and equality. The criticism comes from the fact that while the rich can always get richer, the poor only get poorer. There is currently no equality in the America we have now.

In relation the Great Gatsby, there's a warning in Myrtle, Gatsby and George's death: if you work for the American Dream... you will end up dead. Gatsby serves as an example that only dishonest work will rise you up in American society and even then... you'll end up dead in your pool one day. Hughes says that while these people have worked so hard to achieve equality and freedom they are still the ones suffering the most, unable to move anywhere socio-economically.

I agree with Hughes because the poor only get poorer, it's an overused statement but it's true, the rich control everything and this only leads to a profit on their part. The poor struggle to feed their families while the rich completely spoil themselves.