Ralph Bunche

Ralph Bunche Carl Van Vechten / [Public domain] via Wikimedia

I think Ralph Bunche was a hero because he helped bring peace to Palestine and so helped save the United Nations. He knew what needed to be done and he took care of it.

Ralph Bunche was born on August 7, 1904 in Detroit, Michigan. He was the son of Fred Bunche, a barber, and Olive Agnes Johnson Bunche whose father had been born a slave. The Bunche family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1915 because Ralph’s mother had developed a rheumatic fever and his father had contracted tuberculoses. The Bunches moved there because it was warmer and drier. When he lived in Albuquerque, Ralph meet Miss Emma Sweet, a teacher, who inspired him to become a superior student. Ralph’s grandmother, Lucy Johnson, also helped him get his life together. He described her as the strongest woman he ever knew.

I think that Ralph is a cool person because he was on three championship varsity basketball teams, and he played football and baseball. He took part in various debating contests after he graduated from Jefferson High School in 1922 but his grandmother encouraged him to accept a scholarship to the University of California at Los Angeles.

From U.C.L.A. Ralph went to Harvard University for a masters degree in government. He then became a instructor in political science at Howard University in Washington D.C. This was the most famous African American school in the country. Ralph’s classes were filled with black students who were ready to learn. Ralph was a good teacher. He always had exciting things to talk about so he was very popular.

At Howard, Bunche met and married Ruth Harris. After teaching at Howard for four years he returned to Harvard to begin work on his doctorate. In 1934 he became the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in political science. Ralph continued teaching at Howard and also continued studies of the social conditions of the people in United states of America, England, and Africa. He soon became known to people in government as someone who knew all there was to know about colonial people. Ralph died 1971.

Ralph Bunche was a hero for many reasons. He brought peace between people. He taught young people. He’s not a hero for being a athlete, but it’s pretty cool that he was.