State the central issue in the poem.

The central issue of the poem relates to racism and discrimination. The poem was surrounded by an irony that a person seeking for a shelter, instead of asking about rent, identification and contract formalities, a person was asked questions about her skin color. The landlady’s behavior in this poem towards a man was racist, and this poem signifies that being an African is a big disadvantage for that man. The poet was trying to show that colour discrimination is a big issue which narrowed down the thinking of people towards Africans.