James Arthur Baldwin was born in August 2, 1924 and died in December 1, 1987. He was an American novelist, playwright, and social critic. His essays, as collected in Notes of a Native Son (1955), explore complexities of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, most notably in mid-20th-century America.
Baldwin's novels and plays dramatize fundamental personal questions and dilemmas during complex social and psychological pressures upsetting the rightful integration of not only African Americans, but also gay and bisexual men, while portraying some internalized obstacles to such individuals' quests for acceptance.
Before answering the question, it is convenient to mention that James Baldwin was a Black writer in the decade of the 50s and even though there were other Negro Writers in the literary world, they all suffered from racisms and social prosecution, the novel “Notes of a native Son” is close to an autobiography assembled from essays James Baldwin had written. In the novel the author intends to depict the hatred black people had to suffer at that time.
Right after the race riots in Harlem in the story of Notes of a Native Son, the thing that takes place is:
The funeral of the narrator's father
here we have some evidence for this answer:
"his father's funeral was on his 19th birthday, the same day as the Harlem Riot of 1943."
