Students in the political science class “Ralph Bunche,
Crisis Diplomacy and International Peacekeeping” got a rare
opportunity Monday to hear firsthand accounts of the man at the
center of their course.
Ralph Bunche Jr., along with James and Peter Taylor, all members
of the family of Ralph Bunche Sr., gave the class a glimpse into
Bunche’s personal as well as public life. They spoke about
how his legacy lives on today, more than a quarter of a century
after his death in 1971.
Students may know him best as the namesake of Bunche Hall, but
he is better known for his career in international relations,
working for the United Nations and the U.S. government.
He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950 for his role in negotiating
an armistice between Arabs and Israelis in the Middle East. He was
also an important figure in the Civil Rights Movement of the
1960s.
Ralph Bunche Jr. has followed a path similar to his
father’s by working first as an international investment
banker and then as a financial and development consultant for
African countries.
In the presentation, students first viewed a short video
biography of the elder Bunche, which highlighted his commitment to
education and UCLA, where he received his undergraduate degree in
1927.
Bunche, who grew up in poverty, eventually earned his
master’s in political science and doctorate in government and
international relations from Harvard University. He established the
department of political science at Howard University in Washington,
D.C.
“(He thought) the way you get out of economically
disadvantaged situations is to work harder than anybody
else,” his son said.
The focus of the class quickly shifted to Bunche’s role in
international politics. The speakers stressed his faith in
international cooperation as a diplomatic tool and speculated on
how he would apply his experience and beliefs to current world
affairs.
“He believed that only through international dialogue can
we, in small ways, solve some of the problems in the world that
need to be solved,” Bunche Jr. said.
Bunche Jr. said he believed his father would apply the same
international perspective to the problems the world is facing
today, citing Sept. 11, 2001, as a prime example.
“I think he would try to understand why it happened, to
see whether there was any rational reason for it,” he said,
adding that his father would likely try to identify and deal with
the root causes of the attack.
But James Taylor noted that Bunche was not always entirely
comfortable with the praise he received for his international
work.
“He did not want to accept the Nobel Prize,” Taylor
said. “He felt that it was for the United Nations, not for
him.”
The speakers also discussed Bunche’s passion for civil
rights. He was active in the movement and helped lead the civil
rights march from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery, along with Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr.
“The last comments of every speech I ever heard him give
at a college or university regarded his firm conclusion that one of
the major problems in this country that could destroy it, was its
inability to deal with racial inequality,” James Taylor
said.
Bunche Jr. said the UCLA course would ideally encourage students
to become more active in international affairs.
“I hope it will make some of the students look more at the
international community and the international organizations and see
how they need to be changed to make this a better world,”
Bunche said.
Professor Negussay Ayele, who teaches the class, said the course
has the potential to do just that.
“The course can excite passion,” he said.
“With the right frame of mind and the right training, we can
have young diplomats.”
Ayele said he hopes the class will also teach students about
Bunche as a person.
According to Ayele, Bunche received little attention from 1969,
when Bunche Hall was dedicated, until 2003, when the former UCLA
African American Studies Center was renamed the Ralph J. Bunche
Center for African American Studies in honor of his 100th
birthday.
“Nobody even knew who he was. It’s amazing. I want
to expose students to primary sources as much as possible. It makes
Ralph Bunche live ““ you see a sense of continuity. These are
the links in the chain,” Ayele said.
He added that Bunche’s example teaches important life
lessons, in addition to political ones.
“What made Bunche successful was how he was brought up,
how he endured the ignominy of racism,” he said.
“He would not fail, would not let himself fail. This is
the kind of lesson ““ how you can withstand problems and still
succeed.”