The Young Landlords

Content Warning: This section of the guide describes and analyzes the source text’s treatment of racism.

The unidentified first-person narrator describes his tendency to do things that seem smart and later on turn out to be mistakes. He describes calling out a bully and saying, “Ain’t going to be no fight […] because this guy ain’t nothing but a turkey” (4). The bully responds by punching him three times.

From this, the narrator describes a chronological series of events beginning at the Annual Numbers Runners’ Barbecue. A group of young people, including the narrator, attend the BBQ sponsored by the organizers of a local numbers game: an illegal lottery that begins to lose money when New York institutes an official, legal lottery. One of the young people, Gloria, taunts an older man named Captain, claiming that he is too overweight to run in the footrace. In return, the Captain criticizes the group of young people, saying they do not do anything constructive. He says his chance to do good has passed and these young people are squandering theirs.

The next day the group of friends gathers again. Gloria appears with a piece of paper on which she has written the title “Action Group.