This should have
meant the end of imperialistic exploitation as well as the end of
minority persecution. The Afro-American community wondered if
the U.N. would apply these principles to them. Many skeptics
suggested that the U. S. initiative in founding the U.N. was only
part of a plan to create a world image which would help America
in her new role as a world leader.
Several Afro-Americans were accredited as official observers at
the San Francisco Conference. Their number included Mrs. Mary
McLeod Bethune, Dr. Mordecai W. Johnson of Howard University,
W. E. B. DuBois and Walter White, both of the N.A.A.C.P. Ralph
Bunche was an official member of the American staff. There were
also a large number of Negro journalists, and the conference was
widely covered in the Negro press. Once the U.N. was organized
and in operation, several other Afro-Americans worked for it in a
number of ways. While some held diplomatic posts, others used
their specific scientific and scholarly skills to help various
branches of the U.N. They were particularly interested in the
departments concerned with the treatment of colonial nations and
with the various scientific organizations involved in helping
underdeveloped countries.
Pages:
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352