Pearl S Buck
Pearl S Buck
She published many articles criticizing the nations hypocrisy by pointing out that Americas democracy was tainted by racial discrimination. She also lobbied President Roosevelt to sign the Anti-lynching bill (Conn, NDA). In 1945, she published The Townsman, a novel about a black family living in a predominantly white community. This was her attempt to “address Americas racial prejudices.” She claimed that racism was even more “retrograde and destructive than the nations obsolete attitude towards women” (Conn, NDA).Pearl also co-authored American Argument, another highly controversial book addressing racism. Since the 1930s, Pearl was a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the National Urban League.
She wrote many articles for Crisis and Opportunity, two of the most prominent Civil Rights publications during the period (Spencer, 2002). In 1942, at a Civil Rights rally in New York City, NAACP executive secretary Walter White credited Pearl S. Buck to be one of the only two white Americans who “understood the reality of black life.” The other person was Pearls good friend, Eleanor Roosevelt (Conn, NDA). The NAACP honored Pearl with a certificate of life membership and awarded her the position of trustee of Howard University (PSBI Website, NDA).Advocating for the Mentally RetardedPearls unconditional love for her daughter inspired her to become an advocate for the care of mentally retarded children. In 1950, she wrote a book called The Child Who Never Grew as a tribute to her daughter Carol.
It was said that the book inspired Rose Kennedy to talk publicly about her own mentally retarded daughter, Kathleen. Many claim that this helped changed Americas attitude towards mental retardation. Pearl remained committed to this cause and continued to support many state and local organizations that are dedicated to the same cause through her lifetime (Conn, NDA).Pearl S. Buck InternationalThe increasing number of “Amerasian” children who needed foster homes after World War II caught the attention of Pearl S. Buck.
She coined the term “Amerasian” to refer to mixed-race children who had American fathers (usually military servicemen) and Asian mothers. They are mainly half-Chinese, half-Japanese or half-Korean. The Asian culture in general values legitimacy very highly. As a result, the women were forced to abandon their children to escape from persecution and from the shame of having illegitimate, half-breed children. The children had nowhere to go and nowhere to turn to. They became victims of racial prejudice, were considered outcasts and were ostracized in their very own societies (Buck, Pearl S., 2005)Pearl was empathetic towards these children and wanted to help.
In 1949 she founded the Welcome House, a non-profit organization that provided foster care and helped find adoptive families for these children. The organization experienced tremendous success and in 1964 merged with other agencies that Pearl had founded to become Pearl S. Buck Foundation (Doyle, 2002). The agency is operating to this day, helping more than 100,000 children annually. Pearls vision of “improving lives of socially, politically and economically ostracized children” continues to guide the agencys mission (PSBI Website, NDA).
It is impossible to enumerate all of Pearl S. Bucks contributions to the world and the degree to which she has positively impacted the lives of others. However, I hope that I have illustrated in this paper what a remarkable woman she is and how passionate she was about “promoting tolerance, human rights, inter-cultural understanding (PSBI Website, NDA).” Heroes of the Past and Heroes