Ralph Proctor

Racial Discrimination against Black Teachers and Black Professionals in the Pittsburgh Publice School System: 1934-1973 Ralph Proctor

For those who want to understand the challenges facing Black Americans as they fought for equality of education, Racial Discrimination against Black Teachers and Black Professionals offers an intimate look at the struggles within one urban school district. Drawing from archives and interviews with key professionals engaged in the struggle, the author lays bare the institutionalized racism that denied Pittsburgh's Black citizens access to free and equal quality education for well over a century. From the creation of segregated "colored schools" to the loss of Black teachers when racial integration was mandated by the Supreme Court, this book offers sobering lessons about overt and covert strategies used to maintain a discriminatory status quo. Read against the backdrop of today's Black Lives Matter movement and the educational inequalities revealed by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that the struggle for equality is far from over.