Abstract
During World War II, the US government began integrating its foreign policy efforts with the operational goals of the soon-to-be United Nations and UNESCO.’ At times subject to severe criticism in the public domain, supporters of the new organization were nevertheless successful in spreading UNESCO’s brand of cultural internationalism and anti-racism across the United States. From the time Congress approved US participation in UNESCO in 1945 through 1949, cities including Philadelphia, Chicago, Cleveland, and Denver hosted well-attended regional and national conferences on UNESCO, while supporters from coast to coast organized local chapters to publicize and carry out UNESCO’s mission of educational improvement and “cultural understanding” across “racial” and national boundaries. During the formative years of the United Nations and UNESCO, the convergence of the US government’s foreign policy concerns, critiques of Jim Crow and colonialism, and the bourgeoning cultural salience of the Cold War established the contours of postwar anti-racism in its early iteration.
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Notes
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© 2012 Anthony Q. Hazard Jr.
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Hazard, A.Q. (2012). Early Postwar Anti-racism: UNESCO in the 1940s. In: Postwar Anti-racism. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137003843_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137003843_2
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