first three lines of the poem begin with the word "Let," which emphasizes the speaker's pleading tone.

In parentheses between the first three stanzas, there is a counterpoint voice, which says, "America never was America to me" and "There's never been equality for me." This second, counterpoint voice undercuts the pleading, patriotic tone of the first voice and introduces to the poem a more melancholic, hopeless tone. This tone also becomes angry and perhaps resentful later in the poem when the second voice declares, "I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart" and "I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars." This second voice refers to the "same old stupid plan / Of dog eat dog" and describes an America in which the "mighty crush the weak." The language here is violent, aggressive, and animalistic and points to a very different version of America to that described in the opening of the poem by the first voice.

At the end of the poem, the tone becomes defiant and combative. The speaker seems to call for revolution, exclaiming, "We must take back our land again, / America!" The exclamatory sentence here emphasizes the speaker's combative tone. In the final stanza, the speaker calls for the people of America to take back "the land, the mines, the plants, the rivers." Listing all the different parts of America like this emphasizes how much has been taken from the people, but it also emphasizes how much the people have to win should they fight back. In this sense, the poem ends with a hopeful, optimistic tone.

Any attempt to understand the tone of famed poet Langston Hughes’s poem “Let America Be America Again” must include pertinent information surrounding the development of the poem. Although many examinations of this poem will focus solely on the words that Hughes put on paper, such an analysis will severely fail to capture the tone that the famed poet was seeking to communicate regarding racial bigotry, dashed hopes, and faded, yet still existing, dreams among blacks.

The fact that Hughes’s poem “Let America Be America Again” appeared in 1935, while the nation was experiencing the Great Depression, is significant for a host of reasons. The harsh realities that Hughes communicates with his poem signal the following historical facts: (a) blacks had already migrated from the South in droves to non-Southern urban centers such as Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and Harlem in pursuit of the fabled American dream, (b) their hopes were dashed despite a strong show of patriotism during World War I, and (c) the black existence spiraled downward as the prosperity of the 1920s faded into the harsh realities of the Great Depression.

The above realities serve as the backdrop to Hughes’s melancholy poem “Let America Be America Again,” which reminds one of Duke Ellington and John Coltrane’s “In a Sentimental Mood.” In this work, Hughes’ swords draw a distinct line between an America that enchants foreigners wishing to come to America and the harsh realities facing the descendants of those whose ancestors were forcibly transported here on a slave ship.

Hughes masterfully captures both the illusion of this dream pursued by recent arrivals and the omnipresent reality of blacks whose voices repeatedly reiterate throughout Hughes's poem that “America was never America to me.” It is simple to conclude that Hughes was speaking about blacks in this poem; however, it is more reasonable to expand his frequent refrain of “America was never America to me” to include disenfranchised Americans regardless of race, ethnicity, creed, or sexual orientation.

Proving once again his greatness as a poet, Langston Hughes changes his tone and clears the path for a better day by declaring that he has not given up on being included in the American Dream with the following declaration:

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain—
All, all the stretch of these great green states—
And make America again!

Early in the poem "Let America Be America Again," poet Langston Hughes uses several images to evoke the promise of freedom America is supposed to hold. Yet, he contrasts these images of freedom with images of oppression to show that America isn't yet America to many of its citizens.

One image of freedom is that of the Statue of Liberty, which he describes as being crowned:

O, let my land be a land where Liberty / Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath.

Since Liberty is capitalized, we know he is personifying liberty, and the Statue of Liberty is already a classic embodiment of liberty in human form. Therefore, upon reading these lines, the reader instantly pictures the statue with her crown.

A second is that of the pioneer settling his new home on the open plain "where he himself is free." America's homestead acts of the 19th and 20th centuries brought a great deal of freedom and promise because they allowed those of the lower classes to become landowners, a liberty previously reserved for only the wealthy.

Yet, it is not until the end of his poem that his images show true promise, though they are not classic images representing freedom. By the end of his poem, he asserts that it will be through sweat, blood, and toil that the oppressed will be able to rise above and finally lay claim to the freedoms promised, thereby making America the country it should be:

The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME--
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our might dream again.

In this passage, since the reader can see such things as "sweat and blood," "pain," a man working hard at the foundry, producing iron works, and a man "plowing in the rain," we know these words and phrases are serving as sight images depicting the oppressed as already having worked very hard for America and ready to continue to do so in order to fight for freedom. Through these images, Hughes expresses the promise that achieving freedom is a possibility through hard work.

A thesis statement, simply defined, is a concise sentence which lays out your view on the topic at hand. It is usually placed at the end of your introduction.

The first thing you need to do is decide which element of this poem your essay is going to discuss, as this will form the basis of your thesis statement. If you haven't been given a specific topic, they sky's the limit when it comes to what your thesis statement could be. Your thesis could pertain to the issues of patriotism that this poem raises. Alternatively, it could relate to issues of racism, freedom, or simply the structure of the poem and its rhyme scheme.

A random example of a possible thesis statement that comes to mind would be the following: "Hughes' portrayal of the American dream is that it is unattainable for some and that the notion of 'liberty and justice for all' has never been a reality."

Constructing a thesis statement can be a challenging task, so try this approach for your essay on Langston Hughes's poem "Let America Be America Again."

First of all, decide on a subject that you would like to use to focus your argument. For example, in the poem, the speaker uses a lot of repetition, both of actual words and phrases and in the context of alliteration, where the speaker employs the repetition of specific sounds. Next, determine your focus, or in this case, what is the point of all that repetition? Your answer to this question will help guide you towards your focus. For example, the repetition could be a way to communicate gathering strength, like when someone expresses his or her anger, the longer he or she talks about it, the more the emotion intensifies. Finally, select an action verb that links your subject (the speaker's use of repetition) to your focus (the communication of intensifying emotional power) and put all of your elements together into a thesis statement, like this: The speaker's use of repetition illustrates the intensifying power of the speaker's feelings toward America.

Make sure your thesis statement is debatable and that you locate quotes and textual evidence from the poem to support your argument. Good luck!

"Let America Be America Again" was written by African American poet Langston Hughes (1902–1967), one of the leading figures of the Harlem Renaissance. The poem discusses the United States as a country founded on idealism. It describes the American dream as a pioneer creating a life of freedom and prosperity on open land, a place where all people are equal, a place where tyrants do not oppress their inferiors, and a place where people can achieve their dreams by hard work. Hughes admires this dream but contrasts it with the actual lives of African Americans, poor whites, immigrants, laborers oppressed by wealthy corporations, and other people who are downtrodden and oppressed. 

What sort of thesis you explore when writing about the poem depends on the course for which you are writing the paper and your own interests. For example, you might talk about the tension between conventional metrical form and idiomatic speech in the poem as imitating the tension between social and political structures and oppressed groups described in the poem. Another thesis you could argue would be that Hughes portrays nature and and ideal society as both elements of American greatness and sees social injustice as something artificial, a departure from a state of nature. 

Langston Hughes is crying out that America should become the country it had promised to be. His poem is an appeal to all members of American society, without distinction, to make America great again. It is an almost desperate plea rooted in the strife and struggle that he has suffered and witnessed throughout his beloved country since birth.

Hughes is speaking about an America that was the idealised country the pioneers dreamt about. A land where everyone is free, not only in a political or societal context, but also free from exploitation, greed and all the other human foibles which have become so commonplace. The freedom which he speaks about is untainted by idealism or linked to any ideology. It should be a natural freedom, as free as the air we breathe, a freedom that creates limitless opportunities, equally for all.

Hughes uses the jarring images of people who have become the victims of an uncaring and selfish society, driven by greed and a lust for power. His references are very specific and inform about the ignominious treatment he and others have suffered. In the poem the speaker stands for everyone who has felt the lash and abuse of such a society - from the slaves, the poor whites, the indigenous inhabitants, to the modern day labourers, factory workers and farmers.

The poem encapsulates almost a historical account of suffering and abuse, where no one seems to be free and/or equal. Everyone bears some kind of a burden, all are shackled.

What stands out is that the dream of an ideal America has not died.

Except the dream that's almost dead today.

The speaker asserts that the dream is what brings hope. He passionately desires that the dream for an America free from prejudice, hatred, abuse, exploitation and all the evil that these bring, should be revived. Throughout the poem the speaker has stated that the America had never been the America he had wanted it to be, but he swears that it will be the America that he has idealised. This emphatic faith is in contrast to all the negativity the speaker has focused on throughout the poem.

The speaker (and also the poet) believes that:

We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain--
All, all the stretch of these great green states--
And make America again! 

In these last few lines he emphasises that there is only one route by  which America can become its true self again, and that is through a process of redemption. All that is natural must be cleansed of the taint of human malfeasance. All Americans must be prepared to sacrifice and participate in this act of atonement, for that is the only way in which it can become the country that everyone, from past to present, has always wanted it to be.  

Langston Hughes wrote novels, short stories and poems and often presented his readers with a moral tale based, in large, on his own experiences. He knew that jazz contributed to a proud black heritage and drew on that in reaching his audience and also in expressing his desire for freedom for all races and for all persons regardless of their status in life. For Hughes, there was no such reality. 

In Let America Be America Again, a poem, Hughes calls for America to "be the dream the dreamers dreamed,"  but reminds readers that, in fact, America is still aspiring to that dream which as yet, remains unfulfilled. He laments that "America never was America to me," signifying that it still has a lot to live up to. Hughes states his case for all Americans who have been "driven from the land" and who suffer as the "mighty crush the weak." It is significant that these are the very people "who dreamt our basic dream," and to whom the land really belongs:

"The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's,/  ME-- / Who made America..."

He speaks of the future when "America will be." 

In One Friday Morning, a short story, Hughes tells the story of schoolgirl, Nancy Lee who wins an art scholarship. Nancy Lee's scholarship dream is short-lived as it is withdrawn when the Committee learns that Nancy Lee is "colored." Nancy Lee has to accept the harsh reality that, as her teacher puts it, "We still have in this world of ours democracy to make."  

Both of these works then trace the lives of African Americans who suffer at the hands of a supposed "free" America. The recurring theme is one of disappointment that the dream is not yet a reality but there is also hope for the future of America. Both works reveal that racism and any injustice is debilitating but must be overcome and it is all people, and especially the very people who suffer, who will contribute to making it great. 

The common theme of these two works by Langston Hughes is racism.  Both works (one a short story and one a poem) deal with racism and the fact that (especially in Hughes's time) America had fallen short of its ideals.

In the short story, the protagonist has won an art contest.  But then she is told that she had not won it after all because she is black.

In the poem, the speaker is hoping that America will one day live up to its promise of being a nation for everyone.  He is saying that America has not yet been America, but one day it will be.

Right up until the very end, the tone of “Let America Be America Again” is generally quite scathing in its righteous anger. After initially expressing a wish that America be America again, Hughes immediately embarks upon an extended lament on the way that American history has, for centuries, been marred by exploitation with its concomitant denial of freedom for so many Americans.

Despite the nation being forged in a long, hard struggle for freedom, for too many Americans the promise of liberty set out so eloquently in the Declaration of Independence has not been fulfilled. Whether it's poor whites, “fooled and pushed apart” or the “Negro bearing slavery's scars,” ordinary Americans have, for too long, been deprived of their birthright in what should be the freest society in the world.

This is because the economic system that has prevailed in the United States for so long revolves around greed, the grabbing of gold and land in a dog-eat-dog society where the mighty crush the weak.

And yet despite Hughes's withering assault on American history and its failure to live up to the promise of the Declaration of Independence, he still manages to end the poem on a high note. For all that's happened in American history, Hughes still remains optimistic that the United States can be a land where everyone is free. And he hopes that the readers of his poem will feel the same way too.

Hence the inspiring, hopeful last stanza that represents nothing so much as a call to arms. Deliberately invoking the opening words of the Declaration of Independence, “We, the people,” Hughes expresses the fervent hope that the whole country, its land, mines, plants, and rivers, will be redeemed. Only then will America be made again; only then will she actually be America, an America that has never been realized in practice, the land where everyone is free, not just a privileged elite.

Langston Hughes wrote this poem in 1935 (it was published in 1936), during the middle of the Great Depression. As suddenly poorer white people pulled their money out of Harlem after the 1929 stock market crash, Harlem gradually withered, and the hopes that animated the Harlem Renaissance (of which Hughes was a major figure) began to wither too.

Hughes' poem reflects in its theme a sense that the idea behind America is being lost and is in need of revival. As he notes in the poem, the ideal of America as a "strong land of love" without kings or tyrants, a land of "Liberty" and "Equality," has never been realized for black people like him, nor for immigrants, who live in the land where the strong "crush the weak," nor for the "red man," the "farmer," or the "worker." He cries out that he and millions like him are not "free."

Despite the fact that the dream of what America is supposed to represent has never been enacted for most Americans, Hughes nevertheless calls for it to be revived and to be implemented in the real lives of average American people. It is a good dream, one worthy of pursuing and of bringing to fruition for the first time. He writes,

O, let America be America again—

The land that never has been yet—

And yet must be—the land where every man is free.

The theme of the poem is one of hope that the future can be better than the past if our country starts to live up to its ideals.

When the speaker instructs the reader to "Let America be America again," he implies that America now is not the same as America when it was first founded, when there were dreams of equality and justice and hope for everyone. He wants America to be like that America again. However, he seems to lower his voice, at first, in parentheses and declares that this America never actually existed to him.

The subtext, here, is that America is not a place where equality and justice and hope are offered to everyone. The speaker asks that America once again become the land of dreamers and love and freedom, where none will be oppressed by any other group. However, for the speaker, this America has never actually existed. He has never felt equal or free and has always felt oppressed. He implies that even when America was at its best, people like him still never had the opportunity that other, privileged people enjoyed. We learn that the speaker is a symbol of the poor white person, the black person, the Native American, the immigrant, and all those who come with hope and find that it is the same in America as everywhere else: the "mighty crush the weak." He is the exploited, the hungry, and one who has nearly lost his hope, despite the fact that it is people like him who built America.

The previous response already touched on many of the important themes in this poem, so I'll just add a couple more. This poem is especially chilling in the face of our current political climate. Other themes of this poem include the silencing of marginalized voices, the idea that America is a country founded on deception, and the idealization of America vs. the reality of America.

Regarding the silencing of marginalized voices, such as the voices of people of color and poor people, Hughes brings out this theme with his use of parentheses and italics, especially early on in the poem. Hughes includes stanzas that assert that we need to let America "be the dream it used to be," and that America should return to being "that great strong land of love." However, between these stanzas, Hughes weaves a second voice that says, "(America never was America to me)" and "Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark? And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?" This second voice is almost a whisper or an aside--a mumble in the dark. Hughes uses parenthesis and italics to make it seem like this second voice is almost being drowned out by the other, "louder" voices that want America to be great again. The juxtaposition of these two voices depicts the ways in which the marginalized voices are silenced and ignored in America.

The juxtaposition of these opposing voices also speaks to the second and third themes: the idea that America is a country founded on deception, and the idealization of America vs. the reality of America. The opposing voices, which almost seem to be arguing with each other in the poem, imply that perhaps America never was "great," that it never actually was the dreamland that we think it is, and that it has always been a country founded on deception, violence, racism, and classism. Hughes also tells us this more directly in the lines "O, let America be America again— / The land that never has been yet—"

As a writer for the rights of African Americans, Langston Hughes wrote powerfully in his poem Let America be America Again about the need for America to again stand up and be the country it claimed to be for All of its citizens. His theme is that he wants America to grant African Americans the sames rights and privileges as any American and to live without fear.  His poem From Mother to Son uses the same theme. Hughes and others such as Countee Cullen use this theme of rights for all  of the citizens of America to help Americans see the unfairness of how some citizens are treated.  Hughes is a powerful force in the black community and rightly so.  His insistence that America was not living up to the promise of liberty and justice for all including people of color was instrumental in people understanding that Whitman and Thoreau were writing for all Americans, not just the white men.