Human Rights Advocate

Human Rights Advocate Ralph Bunche

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etroit, Michigan, of August 7, 1904, was a place where people of different races were kept separate, where “Yes Sir” was the reply expected from any man of color. Black people were not free and equal. This was the world of Fred Bunche, black barber to white clients only, on the day he and his wife Olive welcomed their new son and future Nobel laureate Ralph Johnson Bunche into the world. The happy parents did not imagine the unusual future of their baby boy. Neither did the baby’s grandmother, “Nana” Johnson, who had been born a slave. But all three believed in the power of faith and love and they spent their love freely. Many years later Ralph would describe his family life: “We were a proud family—the Johnson clan. We bowed to no one; we worked hard and never felt any shame about having little money.” When Ralph was ten, Fred Bunche moved the small family to New Mexico. Neither he nor his wife were in good health and Fred believed the dry desert air would make for a better life than Detroit. Ralph’s father and mother died two years later, so “Nana” Johnson took Ralph and his sister to Los Angeles, California. Life was not easy in LA, but his grandmother Nana was a strong and determined woman. Ralph took jobs selling newspapers and working as a houseboy for a film actor to bring needed money to his family. Whatever Ralph did, he did as well as he possibly could. He won prizes in elementary school and graduated top of his class from Jefferson High School. He was a champion in debate and a multitalented athlete competing in football, baseball, basketball and track. Dedication to his studies helped Ralph enter the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). A scholarship paid for his college fees, but he had to work as a janitor to pay for food, rent and other living expenses. In 1927, his determination

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and faith in his dream paid off. He graduated at the top of his class and earned a chance to attend Harvard University. The LA black community was so proud of Ralph Bunche, they raised a thousand dollars—a lot of money in 1927—to help him go to Harvard to earn his master’s degree. He would remain at Harvard for six years in pursuit of his doctorate degree. He impressed people so much with his ability to do important work that he was given money to travel to Africa and study the French colonies (areas that are controlled by a country far away from them) of Togoland and Dahomey for his doctorate. His interest in colonies would later lead to an important job at the United Nations. Though Dr. Ralph Bunche had obtained the highest degree a university offers, he continued to study in order to learn more about the world. He also held important positions at Harvard University, Howard University and the New York City Board of Education. But he did not limit himself to teaching. He was active in the growing civil rights movement in the United States. Many people wanted his help and Dr. Bunche worked harder than ever to improve conditions for other people who did not have basic human rights. During the 1930s, while teaching at Howard University, Dr. Bunche organized conferences and led efforts to improve the status of black people in America. In one 1935 conference, he brought together people from all levels of society, so that each could have a say about the unequal treatment of black people. He wanted everybody to have an equal chance to communicate. How else could everyone understand the whole situation? In 1944, after five long World War II years, it looked like the fighting was winding to a close. Knowing how bad the war had been, men from the nations of China, Russia, United States and Great Britain joined together to work out how they could prevent future wars. Dr. Bunche was invited to help and advise them. On October 24, 1945, only a month and a half after the war ended with the surrender of the Japanese Empire, the final plans and agreements (called a charter) were signed in San Francisco by fifty-one nations, for a peace-keeping body that called itself the United Nations. Dr. Bunche said, “The United Nations is our one great hope for a peaceful and free world.” By itself this would have been a major life’s work. But Dr. Bunche was still not satisfied. More needed to be done.

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While leaders agreed to have peace, it could not be lasting if citizens in the world’s countries did not have human rights. Dr. Bunche worked with Eleanor Roosevelt, who was head of a committee to draft a list of basic human rights. This list, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, became the guide for all efforts the United Nations would make for peace and security. Dr. Bunche continued his work for the United Nations. Many member nations had colonies in Asia, Africa, India and on a number of islands. After World War II these nations began setting their colonies free. In 1946, the United Nations Secretary-General (the leader of the un) put Dr. Bunche in charge of a department that helped these former colonies learn to rule themselves. His work resulted in nearly a billion people of color becoming free to make their own political decisions and form their own governments. Dr. Bunche’s most important and hardest job did not begin until June of 1947, however. Palestine, a colony of Great Britain, was about to be set free and the United Nations’ role was to see to it that the process was peaceful. But the Arabs and Jews living there had been at war with each other for a very long time. For hundreds of years each felt they deserved all the land. This was the first major test of the United Nations’ peacekeeping role in the world. It was also one of Dr. Bunche’s toughest personal challenges, as he became the leader of the United Nations diplomatic corps in Palestine after its first leader was killed. Dr. Bunche carried on, living every day with the possibility that one side or the other would shoot him. After eleven months of talks, Dr. Bunche had helped establish the new country of Israel and gained the agreement of the four neighboring Arab countries to stop war and talk peace. For his leadership in helping these countries come to peace in the Middle East, New York City gave him a parade, Los Angeles declared a Ralph Bunche Day, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (naacp) named him director and, in 1950, he received the Nobel Peace Prize. But Dr. Bunche could not rest. As a un representative, he continued to work to bring peace to many countries and prevent wars from happening. At the same time, he continued to work on human rights violations at home, marching shoulder to shoulder with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for fair treatment of African-Americans. Each situation he became involved in affected the lives of millions of people. Dr. Bunche worked with enthusiasm for others because he believed in the deep-down goodness of people. He knew a person’s actions were more important than their differences in language, color, age, religion or beliefs. In a speech he said,

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“There are no warlike people—just warlike leaders.” He was a true humanitarian who shattered barriers between people and solved problems peacefully. This was a man who demonstrated that “disadvantages” cannot stop a person who is determined to succeed. Dr. Ralph Bunche always believed and daily proved that “hearts are the strongest when they beat in response to noble ideals.”