The Richmond Times-Dispatch has hired a new executive editor — 59-year-old Glenn Proctor, an associated editor of the Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J. — to replace William H. Millsaps Jr., who has run the paper for 11 years. Publisher Thomas A. Silvestri described Proctor as “a firebrand on behalf of excellence in journalism.” (See story.)

Proctor is an ex-Marine, a seasoned newsman and… an African-American. As Michael Paul Williams, the T-D’s liberal black columnist observed, “This qualifies as a … seminal event not just in the history of this publication, but in a community where few corporate posts of this magnitude are held by people of color.”

Added Williams: “The uniform reaction to the news from other members of the ‘Caucus’ — the web of black journalists who once plied their trade here before moving on — was a collective ‘wow!’ Only the number of exclamation points varied.”

I interpret the Proctor appointment as consistent with Publisher Silvestri’s make-over of the T-D as a stronger force in the community. First we saw Silvestri’s “public square” initiative, promising a greater involvement in the community, accompanied by a discernible shift in the editorial pages in the treatment of local issues. Now we see the appointment of a forceful black executive editor whose predecessors 50 years ago defended massive resistance to integration.

If Proctor shares the shop-worn, blacks-as-victims narrative of Williams’ column, his relationship with Richmond could be a very rocky one. But I’m hoping that won’t be the case. I expect that Proctor will reflect the can-do ethic of the Marines he sprang from. In which case, we can all say, Welcome to Richmond!