African American Representatives in the United Nations

This chapter seeks to identify the assumptions and expectations that have historically surrounded African Americans in the United Nations, and determine whether they significantly affect or have affected African Americans in senior positions in the United Nations in the execution, interpretation, or evaluation of their responsibilities. The chapter focuses on the role of the ambassador, but it begins with Ralph Bunche, whose role as a “first” and whose breadth of responsibilities in the U.N.'s foundation helped define the parameters in which race is likely to pass between insignificance and prominence. Building on continuing issues exposed by Bunche's experience, the experiences of the three African American U.S. ambassadors to the U.N.—Andrew Young, Donald McHenry, and Susan Rice—can each be examined on the basis of similar issues.