Ralph
Bunche's mother died when he was 13 and he and his sister were raised by their
grandmother. She was very light skinned and could have passed for white if she
had wanted to, but instead instilled in her grandchildren a strong pride in being
black. It was this drive to show white people that blacks could do anything they
could do that drove Ralph Bunche to excel. Even though he had to work odd jobs
all through school to help support his family, he was a gifted athlete and a brilliant
student, graduating first from his high school class and was valedictorian as
well at the University of California where he majored in international relations.
Ralph
Bunche was very involved in the civil rights movement, and wrote a book and other
publications about racism. He was chosen as a member of President Roosevelt's
unofficial "Black Cabinet" which helped advise the President about issues affecting
black Americans. Adamantly against segregation, holding that as long as there
is segregation there can not be a true democracy, he turned down President Harry
Truman's offer to be the assistant Secretary of State because he would have to
live in segregated housing in Washington, DC. During World War II, Ralph Bunche
advised the State Department about strategic military affairs in Africa and was
the first African American to have a desk job at the State Department.
In
1946 Ralph Bunche was borrowed by the newly formed United Nations to head the
Department of Trusteeship of the UN, which oversees peoples who haven't yet achieved
self-government. He worked for the UN for the rest of his life. His toughest assignment
came in the late 1940s when he worked for several years to help negotiate a peace
agreement between Arabs and Jews fighting in Palestine. In 1949 when an armistice
agreement was signed, Ralph Bunche returned to America as a hero, with a parade
in New York City, and the city of Los Angeles declaring Ralph Bunche Day. The
next year he received the Nobel Peace Prize for this achievement, becoming the
first African American to receive this award. The Ralph Bunche Park across the
street from the United Nations, is a tribute to this little known better world
hero.
