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 places his father’s funeral in the historical context of the harlem race riots to show that racial prejudice in early 20th-century america was taking place during his lifetime. was also a cause for mourning. was interrupting an important family event. was also coming to an end.