The poem "Ballad of the Landlord" by Langston Hughes is a tragicomic look at systemic racism. The narrator, an African American, is complaining to his landlord about some problems he is having with his rented house. He mentions specifically that the roof is leaking and the steps are broken, and he emphasizes that he has told the landlord about these problems before. During the course of the poem, the narrator threatens the landlord more than once.

In response to the narrator's initial complaints, the landlord says that the narrator owes him ten dollars. The narrator then makes his first threat. He says he won't pay the landlord until the landlord repairs the property. The narrator says, "That's ten bucks more'n I'll pay you till you fix this house up new."

After this, the landlord threatens the narrator in return. We learn from the narrator that the landlord says he will turn off his heat, evict him, and throw his furniture out into the street.

At this point, the narrator threatens the landlord again. This time he threatens to punch the landlord, as he says, "You ain't gonna be able to say a word if I land my fist on you."

After this threat, the landlord calls the police. In an ironic twist, the African American tenant is arrested for threatening his landlord, when in fact the landlord should be admonished for not taking care of the properties he is renting out to his tenants.