Do you know why these types of stories bug me? Getting beyond the typical race baiting and White Blaming, general moonbattery and Special Snowflake Syndrome, what they position is that minorities, particularly Blacks, are incapable of performing long held standards of education. Math is math. It’s cut and dry. 2+2=4. But, these people, who are often racists against their own race, are perpetuating Victimhood
(Daily Caller) A University of Illinois math professor believes that algebra and geometry perpetuate “white privilege†because Greek terms give Caucasians unearned credit for the subject.
But that isn’t the professor’s only complaint. She also believes that evaluations for math proficiency perpetuates discrimination against minority students, if they do worse than their white counterparts.
Rochelle Gutierrez argues in a newly published math education book for teachers that they must be aware of the identity politics surrounding the subject of mathematics.
“On many levels, mathematics itself operates as Whiteness,†she argues with complete sincerity, according to Campus Reform. “Who gets credit for doing and developing mathematics, who is capable in mathematics, and who is seen as part of the mathematical community is generally viewed as White.â€
Gutierrez argues that subjects like algebra and geometry, which relate to arithmetic, also perpetuate racism and white privilege. She worries that “curricula emphasizing terms like Pythagorean theorem and pi perpetuate a perception that mathematics was largely developed by Greeks and other Europeans.â€
See, guys? It’s the terms used! But, wait, it gets better!
Gutierrez claims that the importance of math skills in the real world also places what she calls an “unearned privilege†for those who are good at it. Because most math teachers in the United States are white, white people stand to benefit from their grasp of the subject disproportionate to members of other races.
Have you ever noticed that just when you think that the wackadoodleness with these SJWs doesn’t end, it just keeps escalating, like a verbal fight over whose sports team is better? But, based less in reality, of course. She even asks “Are we really that smart just because we do mathematics?†This is how you end up with people who can’t do basic math when you hand them a one dollar bill and a quarter to pay for $1.13.
If only whites get math, then why do Asians beat our socks off in the subject?
Pythagorean theorem and pi perpetuate a perception that mathematics was largely developed by Greeks and other Europeans
Remember about 25 years ago when those “Martin, Malcolm, Marcus… and Me! It’s a black thing. You wouldn’t understand” T-shirts were all the rage among blacks?
I always wondered what the white guy’s T-shirt would look like.
I just got my answer.
Our esteemed host concluded:
I made the apparently huge mistake of doing something like that, and the poor cashier was totally befuddled, because she’d already punched in the dollar amount only, and the cash register calculated the change from that. I even told her what the change should now be, but it was like an old Star Trek episode where Captain Kirk stymied a computer so badly that it self-destructed.
Schools are supposed to remedy ignorance, but there’s just no cure for stupidity.
That’s not stupidity, that’s training. It is self-evident that no one ever showed that young lady how to count change.
I have before seen the suggestion that we re-introduce Home Economics as a school course, but as a genuine course, as opposed to a camouflaged cooking course. It would cover the basics of running a household (or apartment these days)including skills like balancing a checkbook or setting a budget.
Why worry that so many Europeans discovered mathematical principles? Just add that our entire number system is Arabic, and that ought to take care of the problem.
What, white math teachers don’t instruct black students?
Wouldn’t any privilege which accrued to people who are good at math be an earned privilege, since they put in the work to learn it?
So it’s only racist if they don’t do as well on the tests? So what is it if they better than ‘white counterparts’?
Well, some do do better than their “white counterparts” on math tests. Chinese, Japanese and Indian students do better, Jewish students do better than other white students (on average).
One of us fails to understand how the problem 17 x 12 = x is a racially biased question.
Cursive writing is racist.
–Rachel Jeantel
Teach, I have two objections to this post, both referring to the inability of “Blacks” of performing arithmetic. I realize only one of them goes to your writing, but am combining them into one comment.
First, I have long had a problem with the term “Blacks” (or “blacks” in lower case). Used in this manner the word denotes a noun; a person, place, or thing (my emphasis). It is my contention that this approach creates an unconscious denigration of the labeled category (blacks, whites, whatever) as we are then referring to them as things instead of people.
On the other hand, if we use the term as an adjective instead of a noun (i.e. “black Americans” vice “Blacks”) the reference is descriptive instead of depersonalizing. Use of such terms as nouns also lead one to (at least unconsciously) see said group as monolithic. As a white American I can see how silly it is to view “whites” as a single group in any way, except as human beings. Hence it is equally silly to talk about “blacks” or “Asians” in a monolithic manner. In fact I’ll point out here that Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India are all part of Asia, and are therefore also “Asian.” This is how British papers get away with not referring to Muslims in the UK; they call them “Asians” or “southwest Asians” instead.
This leads me to my other peeve, the linked author’s apparent belief that “blacks” cant do arithmetic. That’s not only treating a group of people in a monolithic manner, but is factually untrue. I cite the academic record of black African visiting students in evidence.
Casey,
The way to understand the way most people refer to a race is to see folks in a group based on an 80/20 rule. Not all groups are 100 percent. Now you indicate African blacks. Those are completely different from American blacks. They are much smarter, more responsible and more like Europeans. American blacks identify themselves as black and thus are grouped as such. They have their own unique culture. Now, if they desire to be color blind, I am all for that.
It’s pretty obvious that, on an American blog — and this is thepiratescove.us, not .com — ‘blacks’ refer to Americans of primarily African descent, while ‘whites’ refers to Americans of primarily European descent. Perhaps it’s shorthand, but it’s understood.
I did refer to “Chinese, Japanese and Indian students” in a comment above, because “Asians,” which I typed before editing, is not always understood to include Indians. When I need to be more specific, I am.
I definitely understand your points, Casey. If you see white, black, etc, in lower case, that’s usually because I typed too fast, missed capitalization, though, according to race theory, lower case is OK (such as here). Like with constitution. I prefer to use the word Black to describe all, rather than something like Negro, Colored, etc. Technically, Negroid could be used, much like Caucasoid, usually shortened to Caucasian.
There are times when it is all put in a generic box, like here, where the professor is making an assumption that Blacks have to be protected.
Brought to by the same people who believe Blacks are somehow incapable of obtaining an ID to vote.