NAACP takes U.S. voter ID issues to the UN

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16. I seem to remember a parallel effort . . .

Dr. Martin Luther King, accompanied by his wife, today paid a visit to the United Nations Headquarters. Dr. and Mrs. King are seen being greeted by Mr. Ralph J. Bunche, UN Under-Secretary for Special Political Affairs. 4/Dec/1964


Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (speaking on) documents showing the links between Dr. King and his long-time supporter Ralph Bunche, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs who, in 1950, became the first African-American man to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Dr. King was the second, receiving the honour 14 years later, in 1964:

“What I saw today helped me form a picture of their close relationship,” said Mr. Ban, adding that he had been particularly moved by a letter from Ralph Bunche, on UN stationery, asking Dr. King and his wife to visit him on the way to the Nobel ceremony in Oslo.

During the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Mr. Bunche told supporters at the Montgomery Statehouse that the UN was with them. “In the UN, we have known from the beginning that secure foundations for peace in the world can be built only upon the principle and practice of equal rights and status for all peoples, respect and dignity for all.”

read: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=26599&Cr=atlanta&Cr1


King and other civil rights supporters applauded the State Department’s protest of the Sharpeville massacres and urged Eisenhower to issue a declaration “placing the administration firmly on the side of Negroes” in the South, adding: Africans are turning to the UN for moral support and encouragement; must we?”

In response, Gerald Morgan, deputy assistant to the president, referred to Eisenhower’s earlier expression of sympathy for the “efforts of any group to enjoy the rights of equality.”’

read: http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/primarydocuments/Vol5/26Mar1960_ToDwightD.Eisenhower.pdf

THE PRESIDENT
THE WHITE HOUSE

WE ARE GRATEFUL THAT OUR STATE DEPARTMENT HAS PROTESTED THE MASS KILLINGS OF OUR SOUTH AFRICAN BROTHERS AND WE ARE PLEASED THAT THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL WILL MEET MARCH 29 TO ~CONSIDER THAT OUTRAGE.*

WE URGE THAT BEFORE MARCH 29TH OUR GOVERNMENT ISSUE A STATEMENT PLACING THE ADMINISTRATION FIRMLY ON THE SIDE OF NEGROES IN THE SOUTHERN STATES IN THEIR PRESENT STRUGGLE FOR THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS, SINCE THEY ARE SUBJECTED TO INTIMIDATION, THREATS AND VIOLENCE
WHEN THEY CLAIM THESE RIGHTS.

26 Mar 1960

FURTHERMORE, VOTING LAWS ARE USELESS TO SOUTHERN NEGROES WHO FEAR FOR THEIR LIVES AND FOR THE SAFETY OF THEIR FAMILIES IF THEY TRY TO REGISTER AND VOTE. SUCH A STATEMENT FROM THE ADMINISTRATION WOULD STRENGTHEN THE POSITION OF OUR DELEGATION BEFORE THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD.

SOUTH AFRICANS CANNOT HOPE FOR HELP FROM A GOVERNMENT COMMITTED TO “APARTHEID” ; NOR CAN WE HOPE FOR HELP FROM LOCAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS COMMITTED TO “WHITE SUPREMACY” . AFRICANS ARE TURNING TO THE UN FOR MORAL SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT;

MUST WE?

SIGNED:

THE REVEREND R. 0. ABERNATHY, MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA;
PRESIDENT, MONTGOMERY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION.

DR. JOHN S. CHAMBERS, LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY; EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, KENTUCKY COUNCIL OF CHURCHES.

JOHN WESLEY DOBBS, ATLANTA, GEORGIA; GRAND MASTER, PRINCE HALL MASONS.

DR. CHARLES G. GOMILLION, TUSKEGEE, ALABAMA; PRESIDENT, TUSKEGEE CIVIC ASSOCIATION.

DR. EDWIN B. HENDERSON, FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA;
AUTHOR AND EDUCATOR.

JOHN L. LEFLORE MOBILE, ALABAMA; PRESIDENT,
MOBILE CIVIC ASSOCIATION.

THE REVEREND MARTIN LUTHER KING, ATLANTA, GEORGIA; PRESIDENT, SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE.

DR. HERMAN H. LONG, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE; FISK UNIVERSITY.

BISHOP EDGAR H. LOVE, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND; PRESIDENT, COLLEGE OF BISHOPS, THE METHODIST CHURCH, CENTRAL JURISDICTION.

HERBERT MARSHALL 111, M.D., WASHINGTON, D.C.; PAST PRESIDENT, NATIONAL MEDICAL ASSOCIATION.

E. D. NIXON, MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA; PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF SLEEPING CAR PORTERS, MONTGOMERY DIVISION.

DR. M. D. PERDUE, LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY; CHAIRMAN, COMMISSION ON STATE OF THE NATION AND NEEDS OF THE RACE,