An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy

Ralph Bunche’s focus on issues related to race returned to the domestic sphere when in 1939 he began to work with Swedish sociologist Gunnar Myrdal on a project to survey the conditions of blacks in America, sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation. He spent two years on the project, which resulted in the landmark work An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy.

Myrdal questionnaire letter
Cover letter sent with questionnaire, 1939
The team conducted its research through in-person interviews -- Bunche took three trips through the South under the auspices of the study, the first with Myrdal himself and the second two with three field assistants -- as well as through lengthy questionnaires.

Forty-four research memoranda were prepared for the study, four of which were written by Bunche. The final one, The Political Status of the Negro in the Age of FDR, was published posthumously in 1973. One of his most shocking findings was the extent of corruption in Southern political practices; he also criticized the extent of disenfranchisement of both black and white voters and the lack of effective grassroots reform movements.

It would be difficult to overstate the impact of An American Dilemma on race relations or on American scholarship. Just like Franklin Roosevelt’s ‘second Bill of Rights’ speech in January 1944 -- which helped redefine American liberalism -- the publication of Myrdal’s book was a watershed event. As with most studies, especially lengthy ones, the impact was not immediate, but within two months Myrdal was being compared to Tocqueville and Bryce. Over a period of two years the praise shifted from the popular press to academic journals. Du Bois, despite the fact that Myrdal’s work had eclipsed his own Encyclopedia of the Negro, praised the study as ‘monumental’ and ‘unrivaled.’ . . . The Black press also joined the chorus of support. (Charles P. Henry, Ralph Bunche: Model Negro or American Other?, New York: New York University Press, 1999; p. 116)

Reviewers said of the book (note: access to the full text of the reviews linked below is restricted to users on the UCLA network, Bruin OnLine, or the campus proxy server):

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