A few hours after my father’s funeral, while he lay in state in the undertaker’s chapel, a race riot broke out in harlem. on the morning of the 3rd of august, we drove my father to the graveyard through a wilderness of smashed plate glass. baldwin describes a personal event taking place amid a race riot to symbolize his detachment from the racial prejudice existing in society. emphasize his amazement with the events taking place around him. symbolize the destructive impact racial prejudice has on individual lives. emphasize the contrast between his father’s experiences and his own.