(credit: berkleycenter.georgetown.edu /  Ambassador Edward Perkins (June 8, 1928 – November 7, 2020)  was U.S. ambassador to South Africa under President Ronald Reagan. 

By Gary Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

Ambassador (ret.) Edward Perkins died on Saturday evening at the age of 92.  Ambassador Edward Perkins  was U.S. ambassador to then-Apartheid South Africa from 1986 to 1989 under President Ronald Reagan.   Ambassador Perkins was a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, retiring in 1996 with the rank of Career Minister.  He served as U.S. ambassador to Australia, the United Nations, Liberia, and most notably, as ambassador in the final days of apartheid in South Africa. 

“As Director General of the Foreign Service, his commitment to a broadly diverse Foreign Service at all levels of the profession has been a lasting legacy to the quality of American diplomacy. His career represents a deep commitment to global public service and  the profession of diplomacy, two values very dear to us at  ISD (Institute for the Study of Diplomacy).   Ambassador Perkins was, quite simply, a towering figure of American diplomacy. He was a gracious strength and a defender of the best of American diplomacy and young, aspiring diplomats. He will always be honored, and deeply missed”.

-Barbara K. Bodine, Director, Institute for the Study of Diplomacy

 A Black Ambassador to Apartheid South Africa Under President Ronald Reagan 

(credit: NPR.org /   Edward Perkins meets with President Reagan in the Oval Office. Reagan appointed Perkins as U.S. ambassador to South Africa, a post Perkins served in for three years.

In 1985, just 13 years after becoming an FSO, Perkins was appointed by President Ronald Reagan as U.S. Ambassador to Liberia.

Perkins next  took on one of the  most controversial diplomatic assignments at the time: U.S. Ambassador to Apartheid South Africa.   The  South Africa Apartheid regime, under which nonwhites were systematically oppressed and deprived of their rights, is without a doubt  one of the worst crimes against humanity of the 20th century.

“South Africa was in turmoil during the 1980s. Apartheid was still the law and although whites were just a fraction of the population, they owned 90 percent of the land. The government, led by President P.W. Botha, was on the verge of a bloody civil war with Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress. Each day brought news of more violence”. – NRP A Black Ambassador to Apartheid South Africa  – October 24, 2006.

Ambassador Perkins endured much abuse and criticism and protests from Black Americans for his agreeing to serve in a country where a racist regime brutally protected its system of apartheid,  and for allowing President Reagan to “use him” as a Black American face to mask the  Reagan administration’s refusal to get tough with racist South Africa. In fact, Reagan  even vetoed a bill to impose sanctions on South Africa, only to be overruled by Congress. Reagan, along  with UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher,  who also opposed sanctions, consistently demonized anti-Apartheid activists led by the African National Congress party of Nelson Mandela as Communists. 

Civil Rights leaders like Jesse Jackson sharply condemned Perkins, saying his accepting the role of Ambassador to South Africa was “like a Jew carrying messages between a reactionary administration and Hitler.”   –  NPR 

After South Africa, he returned state-side and became the first African American appointed as Director General of the Foreign Service (1989-1992). He was next tapped by President George H.W. Bush as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations with the rank of Ambassador (1992-1993), and then by President Bill Clinton as U.S. Ambassador to Australia (1993-1996).

Tibor Peter Nagy, U.S.   Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs on Ambassador Perkins:

Deeply saddened by the loss of Ambassador Edward Perkins, who passed away this wknd. His legacy within the @StateDepartment & in academia is profound and inspired me throughout my career. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/viJRkalnLk

— Tibor Nagy (@AsstSecStateAF) November 10, 2020

Edward Perkins – A Black U.S. Ambassador to Apartheid South Africa 

Edward Perkins – A Black U.S. Ambassador to Apartheid South Africa in his own words in Feb. 23, 2016 interview with the  Foreign Policy Association:

On Chester Crocker, Assistant Secretary of State for  African Affairs, policy of Constructive Engagement toward to the South African Apartheid Regime:

“I quickly came to the conclusion that constructive engagement meant to be appeasement of the whites and all the blacks had to do was sit tight. I spoke to the President (Reagan) and told him that the concept of Apartheid is past and won’t work any more. I have to disavow it as an ambassador.“

On Perkins’ encounters with White and Black South Africans as U.S Ambassador:

“As far as the Whites were concerned, especially the Afrikaners, it was a very hostile encounter all the time even thought they feigned courtesy, and especially the newspapers, Afrikaans and English speaking papers, they felt I was exasperating the situation.  With the Blacks it was a mixed reaction. The Black leadership in South Africa had taken a vow even before I came that because I was appointed by Ronald Reagan they could not cooperate with me. This included (Archbishop) Desmond Tutu and several others. The Blacks were skeptical as hell about the United States if we were really sincere. But the wife of anti-apartheid activist Walter Sisulu, (Albertina Sisulu) agreed to an invitation to have dinner with me and other officials. After dinner, she told me ‘Mr. Ambassador, welcome to South Africa. I know you are wondering why I am meeting with you, it is because you are a Black man and you  can’t be all that bad’.   She turned out to be one of my best helpers in South Africa. I would say she was one of the most effective leaders in South Africa at the time.”

On his role as U.S Ambassador to South Africa:

“My job was to make change. The (U.S.) Embassy had to be a giant agent of change. My message to the Afrikaner leaders and  the  Black leaders was Apartheid was going to go! Because South Africa can not exist with this kind of system in the world. And President Reagan is behind the effort to eradicate Apartheid.”

Perkins said he reused a security detail while U.S. ambassador in South Africa that was known to be dangerous for Blacks even if they were diplomats. “I turned down a protective detail from the U.S. and South Africa. I said if someone wants to kill me then can but I am not going around with a bunch of guards”.

South African Black Leadership Eventually Opted to Work With Ambassador Perkins:

“The Black leadership finally decided that they would cooperate with me. Desmond Tutu was the last one to come around. He said you’re a Black person. You can’t be all that bad so we will work with you”.

Perkins was born in Sterlington, Louisianna. He grew up in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and graduated in 1947 from Jefferson High School in Portland, Oregon. He earned his B.A. from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1967, and his M.A. and Doctor of Public Administration from the University of Southern California. He was an active member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.