Senator Joe McCarthy thought he was a communist dupe, while the communists considered him a pawn of the West. Civil rights militants during the '60s reviled him as an Uncle Tom, but to millions of Americans, Ralph Bunche was the "model Negro." Sidney Poitier narrates this profile of an often overlooked but important civil and human rights pioneer. Born to a family poor in material goods but rich in racial pride, Bunche, an outstanding student athlete fueled by an intensely competitive drive, overcame all obstacles to become one of the "talented tenth," a designation W.E.B. DuBois gave to those black men and women he hoped would guide the destiny of African-Americans. After an early career spent in universities (where his flirtation with radicalism would come back to haunt him during the communist witch hunt led by McCarthy), followed by intelligence work during WWII, Bunche became involved in postwar diplomacy, eventually winning the Nobel Peace Prize for mediating an end to the first Arab-Israeli war (as it was, Bunche narrowly escaped an assassination plot that claimed the life of top mediator Count Bernadotte). Bunche, who made his greatest mark with his diplomatic role in speeding up the decolonisation process of Africa and Asia after the war, always linked the fate of African-Americans with that of the world's other people of color, and he was a staunch supporter of Dr. Martin Luther King. Based on Brian Urquhart's book of the same name, William Greaves and Louise Archambault's documentary profile runs a bit long on the crises in the Middle East and the Congo, but this informative look at a great man should find an appreciative audience in larger public and college libraries. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (S. Rees)
Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey
(2001) 117 min. $195. Filmakers Library. PPR. Color cover. Volume 17, Issue 4
Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey
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