Question

read the excerpt from notes of a native son.
a few hours after my fathers funeral, while he lay in state in the undertakers 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 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 fathers experiences and his own.

Explanation:

The excerpt juxtaposes the intimate, personal grief of the narrator's father's funeral with the violent, public racial riot in Harlem. This pairing highlights how systemic racial prejudice disrupts and destroys private, individual moments of mourning, showing its harmful, far-reaching impact on personal lives.

Answer:

symbolize the destructive impact racial prejudice has on individual lives.