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Monday, March 1, 1999

Bunche spoke out for peace, equality

HISTORY: Famous Bruin broke through barriers, stood out as great leader

By Steve Kim

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

What's it like - to be a leader, a pioneer, an inspiration, to have the courage to stand up against odds, doubts, inhibitions? Better yet, not just to stand up to survive, but to have the will and drive to push on, thrive.

What's it like to be Ralph Bunche, who came along and refused to take barriers seriously, simply ignoring the ever-looming presence of adversity.

Ralph Bunche, the man after whom UCLA named Bunche Hall. Who is he? An UCLA alumnus, Bruin athlete, outstanding scholar, Nobel Peace Prize recipient and civil rights participant.

Bunche's work as United Nations mediator in Palestine, brokering an armistice between Israel and its Arab neighbors, earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950. He is perhaps best known as the U.N. UnderSecretary General, but was also quite popular and successful as a Bruin.

In fact, the mark that Bunche left on UCLA inspired alumni that came after him to aspire to his level of greatness.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, also a role model and inspiration to many, often expresses gratitude for the significant achievements made by Bruins who came before him.

Men like Bunche and Jackie Robinson were UCLA alumni who broke new ground and paved the way for future generations.

"As a young man, I had been aware of great Bruins such as Jackie Robinson and Ralph Bunche," Abdul-Jabbar said. "I was even fortunate enough to have received letters from them, touting the virtues of both academics and athletics at UCLA."

These prominent UCLA alumni ended up playing a major factor in Abdul-Jabbar's college choice.

"It was clear to me that UCLA was a place where a young black man could succeed not only on the court, but off it as well," he said.

Many elementary schools and the U.S. Department of State's Library were named after Bunche, as well as the UCLA social sciences building.

It's no surprise his alma mater has honored Bunche on numerous occasions for his work in global politics. Just as UCLA paid tribute to him, he returned the praise to a school that's changed immensely over the decades since his 1927 graduation.

"UCLA was where it all began for me; where, in a sense, I began. College for me was the genesis and the catalyst," he said in a speech at Bunche Hall's dedication in 1969.

If so, it's ironic that the young, orphaned Bunche doubted himself when he chose to go to college at UCLA. It was because of his grandmother's insistence that he would do well for himself at UCLA that Bunche decided to enroll. And once he entered, Bunche found that Nana was right.

High school athletic achievements earned Bunche a college athletic scholarship. He was undeniably an outstanding Bruin athlete.

He played football and baseball his freshman year, but later had to sit out with a blood clot in his calf. So, he switched full time to basketball. From 1924 to 1927, he lettered as a guard in varsity basketball. His basketball coach, Caddy Works, described Bunche as "a versatile young man of limitless energy."

At the time, UCLA was known as University of California, Southern Branch and was on the old Vermont Avenue campus where Los Angeles City College is currently located. It boasted a student body of 3,600.

Relatively protected in a college environment, Bunche experienced few racial incidents at UCLA. But that's not to say he didn't come across any.

On the first day of freshman basketball practice, a team member from Louisiana complained to Coach Works that there was a colored fellow on the team and said that his parents in New Orleans wouldn't tolerate him playing with a black teammate.

Coach Works' simple alternative for the distressed teammate was, "Just go over and turn in your suit."

Faced by such an ultimatum, the freshman from Louisiana opted to remain on the team. Works put him at guard with Bunche and the two teammates later became friends.

Bunche's involvement on the team helped UCLA win three Southern Conference championships in a row. The three miniature golden basketball trophies he received from the championships were very treasured. When he was told many years later that his house in Queens had been burglarized, those trophies were the first things he asked about.

Bunche was a social standout in college as well. He reportedly had many friends and girlfriends, and loved parties and excursions. Long after his undergraduate years, he made a point of meeting his UCLA friends and holding reunion dinners when he dropped by Los Angeles.

If his athletic achievements were impressive, his academic accomplishment could match that with some to spare. Bunche majored in political science and graduated as the class valedictorian. He was a sports editor of the school yearbook, Southern Campus, and staff writer for the Daily Bruin.

He was an active participant in discussions on interracial matters. The official debating society at UCLA did not accept him, so he and some friends formed their own debate group, the Southern Branch Debating Society.

Of the numerous speeches he recited, most dealt with issues of race and peace. One of them, opposing the idea of having a segregated swimming pool in Los Angeles, reflects a passionate side of young Bunche. To a predominantly black audience, he said:

"Whatever may be the attitude of you older people toward this dastardly practice of insolently slapping the race in the face, I can tell you, in all sincerity, that there is a violently smoldering fire of indignation among those of us who are younger in years and who have not yet become inured to such insults.

"Any Los Angeles Negro who would go bathing in that dirty hole with that sign 'For Colored Only' gawking down at him in insolent mockery of his race is either a fool or a traitor to his kind.

"We have youth - we have racial pride and we have indomitable will and boundless optimism for the future - so we can't help but come out on top of the heap! We'll make you all proud of the young Negro."

As passionate as Bunche was about racial issues, he knew when to speak fervently and when to be subtle. He had finesse, class and a great understanding of timing and audience.

For his commencement speech as class valedictorian, Bunche addressed similar topics to a multi-racial audience.

He avoided the issue of race altogether because he felt that the commencement ceremony of a school which had been so good to him was not the place to vent his strongest personal preoccupation.

He ended his speech with a rousing statement on human fellowship and some lines by Edna St. Vincent Millay:

The world stands out on either side,

No wider than the heart is wide;

Above the world is stretched the sky

No higher than the soul is high ...

Look up, not down and lend a hand.

This embodies the attitude Bunche took in his causes throughout life: positivity. This attitude was what got him this far and what was later to get him further into the realm of global politics and the civil rights movement.

Bunche was heavily involved with the U.N. from the 1940s to the '60s, becoming a leading expert on European colonialism in Africa. When the American Civil Rights Movement surged, his name brought respectability and dignity to the cause.

"The word 'Negro' for me is an ethnic term with no objectionable connotation at all," Bunche said. "It describes my ethnic roots and I have always had a deep pride in those roots."

Bunche brooded on the exceptional treatment he received as he got more famous. And achievements attributed to him with phrases like, "the first Negro to ..." or "the grandson of a slave" were believed to be complementary, but Bunche and his family found them patronizing.

Even with his prominence, Bunche was still denied access to many places and organizations based on his color.

For example, in 1959, the mayor of Birmingham gave him the key to the city, but he was refused a room at a local hotel.

Bunche was definitely pro-integration. While he admired Martin Luther King Jr. and his emphasis on non-violence, he publicly disagreed with extremist leaders like Malcolm X.

"I have always held and still hold, that the Negro can and will win his struggle for full equality in this society," Bunche said. "We do not have to become racists to win our struggle."

Bunche prided himself on being self-sufficient since his teenage years and hoped others would take it upon themselves to not just sit and complain, but to get up and change something. He worked his whole life for racial equality at home, and for independence and equal opportunity abroad. And rest assured, much progress has been made directly due to his efforts.

Yet, this is not to say all is well. All is not well. America still struggles with the same issues for which Bunche fought. As it continues to do so, it is reminded of the hope and optimism that drove people like Bunche to accomplish magnificent tasks and which inspire others to do the same.

Bunche was once asked why he believed in human survival. His reply was, "Because I've seen so many instances of man's ability to do the right thing. I see them every day. If man can do these things, he can do better things."

Ralph Bunche lettered three times

in basketball at UCLA.

Photos courtesy of University Archives

Ralph Bunche won a Nobel Peace Prize, earned his Ph.D and had a building at UCLA named in his honor.

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