What was going on when I was born?

The Rev. Jesse Jackson and 13 Southern Democratic chairmen held what they called a ''historic meeting'' here today to propose a political agenda for Walter F. Mondale's Presidential campaign in the South. At a news conference after the closed meeting, the state chairmen joined Mr. Jackson in urging the Mondale campaign to stress economic issues in the South rather than try to compete with President Reagan on such issues as patriotism and school prayer. They said this represented his best chance to win both black and white votes in the region. The meeting, which grew out of a telephone conference call last week between Mr. Jackson and the Southern Democratic chairmen, was as significant as any of the political decisions that came out of it, according to some of those who were there. ''I had a sense something very important was taking place in that room,'' said one participant.

The Civil Aeronautics Board today gave the nation's airlines an antitrust exemption to let them jointly discuss ways to reduce air traffic congestion and delays. Immediately after the 5-to-0 vote, the Department of Transportation announced that discussions among the airlines would begin Wednesday. Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Hanford Dole said she hoped the airlines would solve the congestion problem and thereby avert a need for the Federal regulation her department had proposed. The action by the Federal regulatory panel gave the airlines 45 days to develop their own plan for solving a situation that has angered millions of travelers who have experienced long delays because of overcrowded departure and arrival schedules, primarily at six major airports. Airline officials acknowledge scheduling more rush-hour flights than the airports can handle, saying they do so to meet competitive pressure for prime-time business.

The B-1 bomber that crashed Wednesday stalled while maneuvering to avoid an observation plane, according to Government officials. The officials, who said they heard the explanation today from military sources, said the F-111 observation plane went too close to the bomber, prompting the B-1's pilot to bank sharply to the right, which caused a sudden loss of lift. Air Force spokesmen at the Pentagon and at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., where the crash occured, declined to discuss its cause pending an official investigation. The Air Force did confirm that the F-111 was filming the bomber's test of flight control at low speeds.

Reagan Administration officials said today that the government that emerges from the protracted interparty negotiations in Israel will probably be so divided on foreign policy that there will be little opportunity to revive President Reagan's Middle East peace initiative. The Administration officials said the division would be particularly true of the ''national unity'' government apparently agreed to in principle by Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir of the Likud bloc, now in power, and Shimon Peres, whose Labor Party won the most votes in last month's elections. The Reagan plan, which the President presented in a 1982 speech, called for Jordan to enter negotiations with Israel and local Palestinians on the future of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It also envisaged an eventual association between the West Bank and Jordan. The Likud Government rejected the American initiative, while Mr. Peres and his party welcomed it.

Nearly 100 public schools in New Jersey that have failed to complete the removal of asbestos during the summer will be unable to open next week, the State Education Commissioner said today. Asbestos, which was used to insulate pipes and in ceiling materials in public buildings, has been found to cause cancer and other sickness in people who inhale its fibers. The Commissioner, Dr. Saul Cooperman, said the delays could be a few days or a number of weeks. He advised local school boards facing long delays to find alternative buildings - churches or unused school buildings - in which to hold classes until the asbestos work is completed.

Four members of the family of a former National Football League player were shot to death today in a house in central Los Angeles. The police said they were looking for two men whom neighbors saw running from the house. The victims were the mother of the football player, Kermit Alexander, his sister and two of his nephews. The Los Angeles police were summoned to the neighborhood, a community of neat California-style bungalows near the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, about 8:20 this morning by neighbors who heard the gunfire, according to a department spokesman. When officers arrived they found a woman in her 50's, her daughter and two children, all shot dead.

South Africa announced today that KaNgwane, which had been designated a so-called black homeland, would become a self-governing territory, effective immediately. The Swazi Council of Chiefs of South Africa, which wants to incorporate KaNgwane into Swaziland, has warned of bloodshed if the territory of 160,000 people is made independent.

By the Government's account, democracy has been stirring these last few days in this land of racial and ethnic division. The view is not universal. There are many who would argue that, in elections over the past two weeks, democracy has been denied since the black majority of more than 20 million was excluded from balloting among nonwhite people. The election permitted Indians and those of mixed race, for the first time, to elect people of their own skin color to a segregated, three-chamber parliament.

The General People's Congress of Libya approved a proposed treaty of unity with Morocco today, while Moroccans voted on the pact in a nationwide referendum that was expected to result in an overwhelming endorsement. King Hassan II of Morocco and Libya's leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, announced the union agreement, formally known as the Arab African Federation treaty, at a meeting in Oujda, Morocco on Aug. 14. The agreement, which provides for a rotating presidency and a mutual defense pact, startled the United States, its Western allies, and other Arab countries. The Reagan Administration has viewed Morocco as a bulwark against Libyan subversion and expansionism in Africa. (In Washington, a State Department spokesman expressed concern that the union treaty would serve to ''legitimize'' the position of Colonel Qaddafi, who, the spokesman said, was not trying to ''moderate his behavior.'')

South African authorities have lifted their ban on The Windhoek Observer, a weekly newspaper in South-West Africa known for its regular tilting against Government policy in the disputed territory, also known as Namibia. Its first issue in three weeks is to appear Saturday with the banner headline, ''A Death Reprieve - Good Morning South-West Africa.'' The newspaper was prohibited from publishing after distribution of eight successive issues was banned following publication. Its editor, Hannes Smith, said he believed the prohibition had been ordered because of his attacks on South Africa, which rules South-West Africa in defiance of the United Nations.

Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and Shimon Peres confirmed today that they had agreed in principle to form a 50-month bipartisan Israeli government. But they suggested that a formal agreement still awaited approval by their respective parties, where they indicated there was dissension. At the same time, neither Mr. Peres, who heads the Labor Alignment, nor Mr. Shamir, representing the right- wing Likud bloc, would confirm details of the agreement, which was reported during the night by the Israeli radio. The Israeli radio account indicated that Mr. Peres would serve as Prime Minister for the first 25 months and that Mr. Shamir would then take over. The report came after a meeting of Labor Alignment leaders, and the suggestion that there was a firm accord came as a surprise to Likud officials.

The United States told Libya's United Nations diplomats today that they cannot travel outside New York City without special permission. The note gave no reason for the stricter curbs, but a spokesman for the United States Mission cited unspecified security considerations.