Module 4A

Race… An American Dilemma
35 minutes

This module looks at the major, but largely unknown, contributions, Bunche made to Gunnar Myrdal's landmark study, An American Dilemma. In the late 1930s, Dr. Bunche and his team of researchers travel throughout the South, observing and recording the social, economic and political impact of segregation and racial oppression. Bunche's research and writings form the basis of the Myrdal study that will influence US public policy and scholarship in the field of race relations for the next two decades. Bunche, however, views racism as not only a domestic but as a world-wide problem. At the UN, he uses his position to help many of the colonized areas of the world achieve political and economic independence. His efforts to advance the cause of human rights include working behind the scenes to secure UN endorsement of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. At home, Dr. Bunche actively supports the struggle for civil rights.