The Ballad of the Landlord is a poem written by African American poet Langston Hughes, and was first published in 1940. Hughes was one of the more prominent figures of the Harlem Renaissance, and he uses his poems to reflect on his own struggles in adapting to a racist environment.
The poem itself is informed by Hughes's own experience as a black tenant who is unfairly treated and discriminated against by his wealthy white landlord. Instead of helping the speaker, the landlord exploits him and taunts him with the claim that he is superior because of the color of his skin.
The themes are increasingly relevant even to this day, with the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 highlighting the police brutality and everyday racism felt by black people across America.
