At a national meeting of the John Reed clubs, he can't find lodging because of his color.  
This novel's second part, The Horror and the Glory, was edited out of the 1945 first edition.  The story begins when the narrator is 4 years old; he sets fire to some curtains out of boredom and burns down half the house.  After the family moves to Memphis, the six-year-old narrator begins to drink at the local saloon and curse to the amusement of customers.  Eventually he moves to Chicago and joins a communist group.  At a national meeting of the John Reed clubs, he can't find lodging because of his color.  FTP, name this autobiographical novel by Richard Wright.
This novel's second part, The Horror and the Glory, was edited out of the 1945 first edition.  
Black Boy