Colleges and universities are increasingly interested in taking into account the social characteristics and human diversity of American and world societies. While this interest is in part a function of major structural changes occurring in American society and the world, the interest is prompted too by the increasing complexity of knowledge resulting from a consideration of race and ethnicity, gender, and social class issues in society. It is clear that multiculturalism is a goal at many colleges and universities today. However, most projects have focused either on race and ethnicity or on gender, rarely on class.

While increasingly projects are beginning to promote a dual focus on race/ethnicity and gender, these efforts are still relatively limited. Fewer still have included a significant focus on social class. To date, there is not a single Race, Gender and Class Project for research and teaching on the intersection of the three factors. To understand the roots of racism, sexism and classism, a Race, Gender and Class Project will indeed build bridges between these issues.

The Southern University at New Orleans Race, Gender and Class Project (SUNO-RGC Project) is an interdisciplinary and multicultural center on race, gender and class studies housed in the Department of Social Sciences. Our goal is to develop a forum that will attract "organic intellectuals" within and outside academia for the study and resolution of racial, ethnic, gender and social class issues. The authors believe that the creation of the RGC Project at SUNO is the best location to become a local, national and international vehicle for the struggle for social justice for all.

The SUNO-RGC Project is non-partisan. However, its humanistic goal is to emphasize the ideal of social equality between and within racial, ethnic, gender and social class groups. Explicit in the statement of the SUNO-RGC Project is a social egalitarian position. In human societies, social inequality predominates the social and economic relations between racial, ethnic, gender and social class. Therefore, it is important to emphasize the ideal of social equality for those who suffer most from the social injustice generated by the global capitalist economy of today: the multiracial working class women and men all over the world.

What questions, after all, have the study of human society attempted to address? Why does social inequality exist among humans? Where do the causes lie? Can it be reduced and even abolished all together? Or do we have to accept social inequality between race, gender and class as a necessary element in the structure of human society? Historically, these were the first questions posed by social reformers.

The purpose of the SUNO-RGC Project is to promote collaboration among scholars, students and practitioners in every field, including, but not limited to, education, biology, economics, history, law, philosophy, psychology, media, sociology, sciences, labor, and the arts. Together these professionals, community activists, faculty, students and elected officials will focus on race, gender and class issues in the United States and the world. The emphasis will be on, but not limited to, the multicultural working class women and men who suffer most from the intersection of racism, sexism and classism. The SUNO-RGC Project is committed to a philosophy of social justice in the struggle against racism, sexism and classism.