Ralph Bunche – first Black to win Nobel Prize
By
John C Abercrombie
Ralph Bunche was a world-renowned diplomat. He played a significant role in the formation and administration of the United Nations and rose to the position of undersecretary of the United Nations. In 1950, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his peace keeping efforts in Israel in the late 1940’s. In 1963, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President of the United States, John F. Kennedy.
Early Life
Born in Detroit August 7, 1904, (some accounts list his birth as 1903) his parents were Fred Bunche a barber and his mother Olive Agnes Johnson Bunche was a musician. The family later moved to Toledo, Ohio in search of work. Because of the declining health of his mother, Ralph was sent to live with his maternal grandmother, Lucy Taylor Johnson in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Ralph’s grandmother, like other members of the family were strong advocates for education. In 1918, Ralph, his sister and grandmother moved to South Central Los Angeles. Unlike today, it was a mostly White community.
Education
Ralph was a brilliant student through out his educational pursuits. He excelled in debate and graduated as valedictorian of his class at Jefferson High School. He continued this excellence at the University of California, Los Angeles commonly known as UCLA. He graduated summa cum laude (with highest distinction) and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa (the oldest academic honor society in the United States and often recognized as the most prestigious) and graduated as valedictorian in 1927.
Bunche earned his master’s degree in political science in 1928.
With money that he made, and funds raised by the community for his studies, and a graduate scholarship, he was able to attend and graduate from Harvard University. While working on his docorate, he also worked as a teacher. It was typical for doctoral students to teach while working on their dissertation. He graduated in 1934 with an earned Ph. D. in political science. Bunche became the first Black to earn a Ph.D. in Political Science at an American university.
Career
He published his first book “World View of Race” in 1936.
From 1936 to 1938, Bunche conducted postdoctoral research in anthropology at the London School of Economics and later at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.
In 1940, Bunche worked as an investigative researcher and writer to the renown Swedish sociologist Gunnar Myrdal on a landmark study of racial dynamics in the United States.
“An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy” the work was funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The choice of Myrdal was made because as a non-American it was considered that he would bring an unbiased opinion to the work. The work was extremely detailed and is almost 1500 pages in length. It is what he saw as obstacles to full participation in American society that American Negroes faced s of the 1940’s. Ralph Bunche served as Gunnar Myrdal’s main researcher and writer from the start of the project in the fall of 1938.
During World War II, Bunche worked in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), as a senior social analyst on Colonial Affairs. In 1943, he was transferred from the OSS to the State Department.
In 1944, Bunche worked on planning for the United Nations at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference, held in Washington, D.C. Bunche and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt were considered instrumental in the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Ralph Bunche was considered a “Visionary for Peace”.
Nobel Peace Prize
In 1947, Bunche became involved with trying to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict om Palestine, serving as assistant to the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine. He became the principal secretary of the UN Palestine Commission. He worked with Sweden’s Count Folke Bernadotte. Bernadotte had been appointed by the UN to mediate the conflict. In September, Bernadotte was assassinated, and Bunche became the chief mediator.
For achieving the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Bunche received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950. He continued to work for the UN, mediating other strife-torn regions including the Congo, Yemen, Kashmir and Cyprus.
In 1968, Bunch was appointed Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Civil Rights
In addition to his other work, Bunche was active in Civil Rights. He participated in the March on Washington in 1963. The Selma to Montgomery march in 1965 and contributed to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Racism
Bunche continued to fight against racism. Achievement and hard work do not spare people of color from the harsh reality of racism. In 1959 as a Nobel Prize winner, he and his son were denied membership in the West Side Tennis Club in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens, New York. The issue was given national coverage, resulting in Bunche being offered an apology and an invitation of membership. The official who turned them away resigned, however Bunche refused the offer because it was not based on racial equality for all, but was an exception based on his personal prestige.
Bunche suffered from declining health and as a result resigned from his UN position. The resignation was not announced because Secretary-General U Thant held out hope that he would be able to return. The cause of death was complications of diabetes mellitus. He died December 9, 1971.
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Below the books are some great videos on Ralph Bunche!
Books
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Ralph Bunche – An American Odyssey
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The following video features Dr. Ralph Bunch as he delivers a commencement speech. It gives a look at the man and his work in his own words. The video is about an hour in length, but gives a great look at this remarkable man and his work.
The following 2 part video is a look at people responding to the question of “Who was Ralph Bunche” and a look at the Ralph Bunche society.
Bunch video, part 1
Part 2
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