Professor Ralph Proctor says program is important for today’s students
by Rob Taylor Jr.
Courier Staff Writer
Esteemed Community College of Allegheny County professor Ralph Proctor is known to many across the Pittsburgh region as a civil rights historian and champion of African American history and culture.
And he told the New Pittsburgh Courier that with racial injustice top-of-mind for many in the U.S. right now, it’s the perfect time for college students to dive even deeper into America’s complicated intersection of race, gender, discrimination and inequality.
Proctor is the creator of CCAC’s Ethnic & Diversity Studies program. Current college students—not just those who attend CCAC—are able to take the courses in the program as electives.
CCAC said on its website that students who complete the courses in the program will be able to: write critically about race, class and ethnicity in social and historical contexts; analyze multiple categories of social diversity; describe the scope and magnitude of ethnic and diversity studies from an interdisciplinary approach; identify different cultures of the world through the study of language, literature, religion and artistic creations or other disciplines; and distinguish among the experiences of a variety of diverse cultures different from their own and provide an analytic framework which facilitates awareness of how cultures vary and shape the human experience.
“The most important thing students will learn is that our world has been built on discriminating against any people who are not middle-class people who control the wealth,” Proctor told the Courier in an exclusive interview, July 7. “They will learn that we have been duped into believing that White, Christian, rich people should control the world and that the ‘American Way’ is the only way and all those who are different do not deserve to share in the ‘American Dream.’ They will learn the negative impact racism and discrimination play in poverty. They will learn that we have been brainwashed into believing that only the values of rich, White, straight, Christians are acceptable and all the rest of us have been marginalized all of our lives.”
The program is based at the college’s Allegheny Campus and the Homewood-Brushton Center. Proctor said that employers are increasingly looking to employ those with cultural competency skills, which one would get by enrolling in the CCAC program.
“Recent events that have taken place in our country have caught the attention of the world in an unflattering way,” Proctor said in a release provided to the Courier. “Demonstrations about these events show us that the world is questioning our leadership as a welcoming nation that treats all people equally. We must dedicate ourselves to removing the last vestiges of racism from America. When we truly embrace our differences and learn to value one another—when we learn to sing each other’s songs and dance each other’s dances—the world will be a better place.”
Students who complete the courses—at least 18 credits are required for completion—will receive a certificate, which, Proctor said, “can be considered as a ‘minor.’” It’s great to have on a person’s resume, Proctor said. “Many multi-national corporations are looking for people who show competence in understanding people of diverse backgrounds.”
Courses taken in the first semester would include Ethnic and Diversity Studies, Introduction to Black Women and Leadership, and Achieving Cultural Competence. In the second semester, after taking Understanding Violence in America, students can choose two “restricted electives,” such as History of the Pittsburgh Civil Rights Movement, Cultural Competence and Diverse Populations, History of Women, African American Literature, and Urban Sociology.
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