Social Science Educators Discuss Diversity

CCBC Essex played host to the 29th Annual Conference of the Eastern Community College Social Science Association (ECCSSA) on Friday, March 28 and Saturday, March 29. Chancellor Irving Pressley McPhail delivered the opening address to 125 social science educators from all over the East Coast. The conference theme, Diversity: Contemporary Issues and Future Challenges, made for lively discussion.

Michael Sanow, CCBC Catonsville Sociology professor, introduced Pulitzer Prize winning author and historian, Taylor Branch, who delivered the keynote address – Civil Rights: Lasting Gains and Unfinished Business. Branch’s speech was filled with reminiscences of the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s, 60s and 70s. He delivered glimpses into the human side of the modern founding fathers of the Movement – Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Jesse Jackson. As he spoke, these civil rights figures came alive as persons rather than icons, with frailties as well as strengths. Branch mentioned King’s amazing refusal to think of anyone as “the enemy,” despite imprisonment, beatings and vilification. As he traced the movement from its non-violent roots to the riots in Watts, Branch noted that the Civil Rights Movement stopped the minute non-violence became unfashionable. He lamented recent “retelling of the past” by today’s leaders that all too frequently don’t get elementary facts about the movement right. He noted that even those who lived through it, fail to remember that the famous March on Washington did not include women. “The women were forced to march on Independence Avenue,” he noted. He also recalled the undercurrent of unease among many of the marchers when they realized that the different races were actually walking together.

According to CCBC Essex professor John Hutchinson, chairman for this year’s ECCSSA Annual Conference, “Our theme – Diversity: Contemporary Issues and Future Challenges – is certainly appropriate in today’s community college environment. The conference explored topics of globalization, socialization and inclusion as they pertain to the classroom setting. These are not theoretical or philosophical exercises but real-world examination of the issues facing today’s community college teachers and students.”