Edward J. Perkins, a career diplomat who grew up in segregated Louisiana, became the first African American ambassador to apartheid South Africa and opened the ranks of the Foreign Service to minorities as its director general. He died Nov. 7 at a hospital in Washington. He was 92.
Democracy Dies in Darkness
Edward J. Perkins, first Black U.S. ambassador to South Africa, dies at 92
By Emily Langer
November 13, 2020 at 11:16 p.m. EST