Abstract
This interview with Donald Ramos traces his upbringing in a politically engaged Portuguese immigrant family in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in the 1940s and 1950s, his academic development as a historian of Brazil and Latin America, his long career at Cleveland State University beginning in 1971, and his time living in a faculty enclave in East Cleveland. Ramos reflects on labor activism, ethnic identity, language, race, immigration, and higher education, describing how his family’s experiences shaped his intellectual and political worldview. The interview explores his graduate study in the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Florida, his involvement with CSU’s experimental First College program until 1997, and his commitment to interdisciplinary teaching and mentoring first-generation college students. Ramos also discusses suburban demographic change, housing discrimination, school integration, and fair housing activism in Cleveland Heights during the 1970s and after, including his work with the Heights Community Congress and efforts to combat racial steering in the local real estate market. The interview additionally examines his political activism related to U.S. involvement in Central America during the 1980s and 1990s, including his leadership in the Central American Network, educational outreach efforts, travels to Nicaragua during the Sandinista period, and critiques of U.S. foreign policy in the region. Throughout the interview, Ramos reflects on the intersections of race, class, ethnicity, politics, and public life in both the United States and Latin America, emphasizing the importance of dialogue, historical perspective, and civic engagement.
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Interviewee
Ramos, Donald (interviewee)
Interviewer
Souther, J. Mark (interviewer)
Project
Provost Summer Program
Date
6-24-2013
Document Type
Oral History
Duration
116 minutes
Recommended Citation
"Donald Ramos Interview, 24 June 2013" (2013). Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection. Interview 990025.
https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/crohc000/464
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.
