<P> Baldwin points out that the rent is very expensive in Harlem . Moreover, although there are black politicians, the President is white . On to the black press, Baldwin notes that it emulates the white press, with its scandalous spreads and so forth . However the black Church seem to him to be a unique forum for the spelling out of black injustice . Finally, he ponders on antisemitism amongst blacks and comes to the conclusion that the hatred boils down to Jews being white and more powerful than Negroes . </P> <P> Baldwin tells the story that happened to The Melodeers, a group of jazz singers employed by the Progressive Party to sing in Southern Churches . However, once in Atlanta, Georgia, they were used for canvassing until they refused to sing at all and were returned to their hometown . They now enjoy success in New York City . </P> <P> Baldwin paints a vivid recollection of his time growing up with a paranoid father who was dying of tuberculosis, and his initial experience with Jim Crow style segregation . Prior to his father's death, Baldwin was befriended by a white teacher whom his father disapproved of . Later he worked in New Jersey and was often turned down in segregated places--Baldwin recalls a time he hurled a cup half full of water at a waitress in a diner only to realize his actions could have dire consequences . He goes on to say that blacks participating in military service in the South often got abused . Finally, he recounts his father's death which occurred just before his mother gave birth to one of his sisters; his father's funeral was on his 19th birthday and the Harlem Riot of 1943 . This essay is an attempt to do away with the hatred and despair he feels towards his father . </P> <P> Baldwin compares Black Americans to Blacks in France . Whilst Africans in France have a history and a country to hold on to, Black Americans don't--their history lies in the United States and it is in the making . </P>

What takes place on the narrator's 19th birthday notes of a native son