Math is a tool for white men to oppress others

[Gryphon Rider]

Such is the thinking of the leadership of Seattle public schools.  I wish it were a joke.

Let's start with a mainstream news source:
The Seattle Times: Is math racist? New course outlines prompt conversations about identity, race in Seattle classrooms

A couple of other sources; I haven't vetted any of these, and can only assume they have right-leaning perspectives, so left-leaners be forewarned:

https://mynorthwest.com/1537348/rantz-seattle-schools-document-say-math-is-oppressive-us-government-racist/?

https://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/education/item/33574-seattle-schools-math-racist-oppressed-need-liberation-from-the-right-answer

I have understood for a while now that the incoming (and already established in the young) way of thinking is that there is no such thing as (capital T) Truth.  Truth, according to post-modern thinking, can be whatever one feels is truth to the individual, but it is anathema to suggest that there is universal Truth that remains true regardless of what one feels about it.  Truth must feel authentic to me.

Most young people, including young Christians, believe that a person's afterlife is determined by what they believe.  This is not to say that if your belief and practise is acceptable to God, you will enter heaven, but rather that whatever you believe about the afterlife, that is exactly what will happen to you after you die.  E.g., if Ava believes you must repent and believe in Jesus Christ to enter heaven when you die, that is what will happen to Ava when she dies.  If Ethan believes that he doesn't have to have a defined belief system, but simply that his good must outweigh his bad to enter heaven, that judgement will be according to Ethan's standards, and his heaven will substantially match what he imagined it to be.

Now we have math being subject to the individual's feelings about what is true.  It is not that they are saying that two plus two can be equal to whatever you want (at least I hope not), but that methods of teaching math and the control of access to math instruction have been tools white men have used to oppress others, and that ancient mathematical knowledge has been appropriated by Western culture.  In other words, you should be teaching me math in the way that I want it to be taught, and that you need to be concerned about all the possible ways your teaching method might offend or oppress me.

Just when I thought they couldn't possibly take it that far.

Here's the actual guiding document (proposed to be?) used by Seattle Public Schools:

https://www.k12.wa.us/sites/default/files/public/socialstudies/pubdocs/Math%20SDS%20ES%20Framework.pdf

[Alberta Patriot]

The Tools that push this garbage are coming to a school near you. The PAC's need to halt this crap at the local level, at first with strong suggestions and then escalating to "We Have Had Enough And Will Pull Our Children"... The Progressive Plague is Spreading Fast.

[Jess from VA]

Math is not a tool used by white men to oppress others.

Rather, a good education (including math) is a tool used by smart people to advance themselves beyond the dummies and idiots.  If dummies and idiots cannot keep up that's on them, and not the smart people's fault.

What a novel idea.     

[Willow]

It amazes me sometimes how ignorant some supposedly educated people can be.  Someone(s) thinks that by pointing out alleged victimization of one ethnic group by another the long established spread of racism will be diminished.

The other major problem with the behavior of these education leaders is the acceptance of the belief that racism, past and present, has only existed from one (European descendants) ethnic group to others.

   

[Patrick]

Maybe this is just a cover-up because they suck at teaching it.

[..]

Drip, drip, drip.

Taking the mind out of the unwary.

[shortleg]

Maybe this is just a cover-up because they suck at teaching it.

  Remember those that can do, those that cant teach.

 Now I am truly scared.

[bscrive]

Some people have their mind so open that their brains fall out.  The professor is one of them.

[scooperhsd]

Math is not a tool used by white men to oppress others.

Rather, a good education (including math) is a tool used by smart people to advance themselves beyond the dummies and idiots.  If dummies and idiots cannot keep up that's on them, and not the smart people's fault.

What a novel idea.     

Describes my feelings perfectly. However, some of the methods they use now for teaching math are outright confusing to those of us who learned it a long time ago. (says the person who has forgotten more math than most people have taken).

[Patrick]

Some people have their mind so open that their brains fall out.  The professor is one of them.

I live in an ivy league college town, so, I wholeheartedly agree.

[Jess from VA]

Math is not a tool used by white men to oppress others.

Rather, a good education (including math) is a tool used by smart people to advance themselves beyond the dummies and idiots.  If dummies and idiots cannot keep up that's on them, and not the smart people's fault.

What a novel idea.    

Describes my feelings perfectly. However, some of the methods they use now for teaching math are outright confusing to those of us who learned it a long time ago. (says the person who has forgotten more math than most people have taken).

I can still remember my dad, the Phi Beta Kappa slide-rule math genius civil engineer getting angry and shouting while trying to tutor me on the new SMSG math I had in school.  His mother (my grandma, born 1889) taught in a one room schoolhouse (1st-6th) she used a horse and buggy to travel to.  When he was in HS, they sat at the kitchen table and learned trigonometry together.

I whizzed through math until it got to trig, and then gave up because I could make no sense of tangents and cosigns, and it had no relevance to my future as an attorney.  Dad was pretty disappointed in that decision and insisted I do something worthwhile with my life, like being an engineer.  Even though I always tested higher in math than verbal in SATs and other testing, my only C in undergrad was a HS refresher course in algebra and trig.  

I should have listened to him.

When we got a sailboat and sailed aorund Lake Erie in my childhood, he used a sextant to shoot the sun and plot our position.  This always seemed like voodoo to me.  He always argued that electronic devises like calculators and GPSs would make weak mathematicians.  Il remember him telling me to always show my work longhand so even if I got the answer wrong, I could get some credit for the test questions.  RIP dad.

[9Ball]

If they want to level the playing field, then maybe they should try harder and blame themselves for their failures.

[scooperhsd]

Piloting (using bearings and radar ranges) and using manuevering board is something I can still do (or rather - it would come back quick), and the basic theory of the sextant is still there - but going through the calculations / identifying stars is something I've lost.

[Patrick]

Piloting (using bearings and radar ranges) and using manuevering board is something I can still do (or rather - it would come back quick), and the basic theory of the sextant is still there - but going through the calculations / identifying stars is something I've lost.

I still do and teach that. I believe  Ya gotta be able to fall back on the basics. 

I took the maths and sciences all thru schools. The new stuff just doesn't make sense. 2+2 to me still equals 4 not 5. Just one dumb example.

[Chrisj CMA]

Piloting (using bearings and radar ranges) and using manuevering board is something I can still do (or rather - it would come back quick), and the basic theory of the sextant is still there - but going through the calculations / identifying stars is something I've lost.

I still do and teach that. I believe  Ya gotta be able to fall back on the basics. 

I took the maths and sciences all thru schools. The new stuff just doesn't make sense. 2+2 to me still equals 4 not 5. Just one dumb example.

I guess I was blessed. Never experienced the “new” math. In what would would 2+2=5 or was that just a metaphor?

[0leman]

I was always good at understanding and doing Math.  Mostly did my homework in class while in high school.  other subjects had more difficult time.

I used the math I learned in school/college on my job.  I worked with folks of different races.  Non of them appeared to have issues with Math.  some were a little quicker than others, but it had nothing to do with their race.   

Not sure where these idiots are coming from with their math and race issues.  It may be more of a problem just teachers are not allowed to have a good teaching atmosphere in the class rooms in some of the schools.  Some of the "inter-city" schools are more of a war zone.

[ridingron]

Maybe this is just a cover-up because they suck at teaching it.

  Remember those that can do, those that cant teach.

 Now I am truly scared.

Those that can, do. Those that can't, teach. Those that can't teach, administrate.

[Patrick]

Try understanding some u-tube videos on new math. Old math-ers come up with different answers and then new math-ers  try to explain how they are correct. I shake my head and back away.



Maybe another reason some apparently don't want math taught now could be Americans are now terrible at it. If I remember the reports correctly of the 53 industries nations we ranked 37th in math and as bad in science.

[G-Man]

When I decided to go back to school, I had to take a prerequisite math class for a physics class that was part of my major.  The math class was Intermediate Algebra and Triginometry.  I took the class over the summer and at night so I could still work.  The class was made up of me and about a dozen seniors who should have graduated in May.  They were all grumbling and had bad attitudes going in the very first night.  This course was part of the basic liberal arts requirments that they just never bothered to take, so it stopped them from graduating.  The teacher heard all their complaining and told them that "this class is not supposed to taken at the end of your college career, it's supposed to be taken at the beginning BECAUSE IT TEACHES YOU HOW TO THINK."

That's all math really is, up to a point of course and that is calculus,........  exercises for the brain.  It teaches you to go from A to B to C to D in a specific order.  The rules never change.  Once you figure out what they are asking for (find X), you methodically use what they give you to find the answer.

[Gryphon Rider]

Maybe this is just a cover-up because they suck at teaching it.

  Remember those that can do, those that cant teach.

 Now I am truly scared.

Those that can, do. Those that can't, teach. Those that can't teach, administrate.

This may be true for some, but there are myriads of examples who counter this stereotype.  My father was one of those.  He was an excellent teacher to students who had a good attitude, teaching science to grades 7-9 for most of his career.  He also taught math some years and a hunter education option for many years.  He was offered vice/assistant principle positions, but declined, saying that he didn't want to deal mostly with bad kids.  He has had several students excitedly tell him that he had taught one of their parents.  He was a do-it-yourselfer, teaching me many skills, but more importantly, showing me that a man is capable of learning and doing many things.

15 or so years ago, when I was a motorcycle riding instructor (now that is something you have to know how to do before you can teach it), at the end of a course a young student heard my last name, then asked if I was related to a school teacher she recently had, who turned out to be my dad.  "Your teaching style is exactly like your dad's teaching style," she exclaimed, "and I liked your dad's teaching style!"

Many teachers teach not because they can't do anything else, but because they love teaching and are good at it.  Knowing how to do something is one thing, but knowing how to teach it is an additional skill/aptitude.

[The emperor has no clothes]

  Still remember my third grade teacher Mrs. Gault. Very strict, but I learned much from her.

[Pluggy]

Meathead and gents.  According to my wife the teacher.  Teaching math has changed and improved since kids started watching Sesame Street.  Counting, the basis of all math, used to be taught as reciting the names of the numbers from 1 to 20.  The student was to neatly copy the numerals onto paper.  A lot of kids never grasped the concept of actually counting.

Sesame Street provides a visual example of how counting works and kids know it when they start school.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Meathead and gents.  According to my wife the teacher.  Teaching math has changed and improved since kids started watching Sesame Street.  Counting, the basis of all math, used to be taught as reciting the names of the numbers from 1 to 20.  The student was to neatly copy the numerals onto paper.  A lot of kids never grasped the concept of actually counting.

Sesame Street provides a visual example of how counting works and kids know it when they start school.

I’m sure your wife is correct. I don’t know if it has anything to do with Sesame Street, but both my grandkids were doing math way before they entered school. As to my Mrs. Gault, I’m sure she would be very disappointed in my cursive writing these days. 

[Jess from VA]

He was offered vice/assistant principle positions, but declined, saying that he didn't want to deal mostly with bad kids.

Boy that was a good decision.  In my schools, the vice principle was always the designated hitter/enforcer.

If you were told you had to go see Mr. Dominic Kastri, you were suddenly all repent-full, humble, and scared.

I wonder how I still know his name?   

His head was shaved bald and appeared to be polished to a high shine with wax, though no one ever asked him about it.  And his biceps stretched his shirt sleeves taught.  Most kids only had to go see him once; which was probably the plan.   

[hubcapsc]

Still remember my third grade teacher Mrs. Gault. Very strict, but I learned much from her.

My third grade teacher took my Batman cards 

-Mike

[Oss]

SO WHY ARE THE CHINESE kicking butt with math, hacking and computer espionage

Seems to me they have a real shortage of white males in asia

[Gryphon Rider]

SO WHY ARE THE CHINESE kicking butt with math, hacking and computer espionage

Seems to me they have a real shortage of white males in asia

Maybe other ethnic groups should follow their example and culturally appropriate math back from western white culture.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Still remember my third grade teacher Mrs. Gault. Very strict, but I learned much from her.

My third grade teacher took my Batman cards  

-Mike

(I’m sorry) if it helps, Mrs. Gault would smack me with a ruler if my cursive letters went above the dotted line.

[RDAbull]

Thus setting up the next generation of the "Free crap Army"

We can't earn it so yous gotta give it to us.

As a long time educator I completely reject this whole supposition.

[Skinhead]

Still remember my third grade teacher Mrs. Gault. Very strict, but I learned much from her.

Was she married to John?

[The emperor has no clothes]

Still remember my third grade teacher Mrs. Gault. Very strict, but I learned much from her.

Was she married to John?

I don’t know. You didn’t ask Mrs. Gault any personal questions. 

[0leman]

I do have a first grade grandson.  I was down visiting with him and his parents about 6 months ago.  He was doing math in his head, yeah it was only addition and subtraction, but he was doing two digit numbers.   AND he is white, which probably explains this right?

[Rams]

It amazes me sometimes how ignorant some supposedly educated people can be.  Someone(s) thinks that by pointing out alleged victimization of one ethnic group by another the long established spread of racism will be diminished.

The other major problem with the behavior of these education leaders is the acceptance of the belief that racism, past and present, has only existed from one (European descendants) ethnic group to others.

   

I was just above average in math (that may be stretching it some), not spectacular by any means.   I tried all the excuses I could come up with for why I wasn't as good as others in math.   None seemed to work.   Never thought about using the race card...…..  

What I find interesting is, some how I got through college, the Artillery Basic Officers Course (math intensive), the Transportation Officer's Advance Course and I learned to use a Whiz Wheel (circular slide rule) and get through RW Flight School and the RW Test Pilot School.   I'm thinking motivation may have had something to do with it.  

Rams

[Patrick]

Motivation is a motivating factor in most things human.  How the times seem to be changing. 

Talk about timing. A new report states our kids reading and math scores have dropped once again.  To me, thats scary. This about our future.  Between our current politics and state of education I'm glad I'm an old fart. I fear we are well on our way to becoming a third world nation.

[G-Man]

Parents need to have skin in the game. 

The stats don't lie, private schools do it better.  I believe that ONE factor for their success is that parents/families pay tuition. 

When you pay for something, you expect more out of it so you usually will put more into it to achieve a good outcome.

[..]

I drove a school bus for a north metro Atlanta county for 3 years.

Since then I've driven a school bus for private schools for 4 years.

There is a marked difference in attitude and behavior between the 2 types of students.

Private school students are more respectful of their peers and others. Whether this is just a public mask I have no idea.

One of the 5th grade girls received 5 demerits for calling another girl a bad name. She is now working off those demerits by vacuuming the lunch hall after lunch in  the Middle School for 3 days.

At the High School students can also work off demerits by undertaking various tasks, some pretty menial, around the school.

At the Middle School I see 3 different students take down the school flag and Stars and Stripes every day.
They take great care in the process making sure the flags do not touch the ground and ensuring the folding is done correctly.

Some of the students take it upon themselves to stand on the kerb and salute the flags before they lower them. This includes some of the overseas students.

There is no Common Core Math taught at this school. I asked one of the 6th grade boys if he knew what common core was and he told me "they tried to explain it to me at the school I used to go when I was in 4th grade but it didn't make sense".

I see there is a marked difference in the culture of public and private education.

Public education is dropping behind.

A new 5th grade student told me she likes this new to her school because the teachers didn't have to keep asking the students to be quiet and pay attention. And the food was better  

[Safety Steve]

I got a question... Who is the one that determines something is racist?   

[..]

I got a question... Who is the one that determines something is racist?   

Those that say it is.

[G-Man]

I got a question... Who is the one that determines something is racist?   

Usually the person or group that is the subject of the statement or comment or whatever.

BUT ! ! !  Nowadays, it's usually middle aged white people who become offended for someone ELSE! 

[Patrick]

I drove a school bus for a north metro Atlanta county for 3 years.

Since then I've driven a school bus for private schools for 4 years.

There is a marked difference in attitude and behavior between the 2 types of students.

Private school students are more respectful of their peers and others. Whether this is just a public mask I have no idea.

One of the 5th grade girls received 5 demerits for calling another girl a bad name. She is now working off those demerits by vacuuming the lunch hall after lunch in  the Middle School for 3 days.

At the High School students can also work off demerits by undertaking various tasks, some pretty menial, around the school.

At the Middle School I see 3 different students take down the school flag and Stars and Stripes every day.
They take great care in the process making sure the flags do not touch the ground and ensuring the folding is done correctly.

Some of the students take it upon themselves to stand on the kerb and salute the flags before they lower them. This includes some of the overseas students.

There is no Common Core Math taught at this school. I asked one of the 6th grade boys if he knew what common core was and he told me "they tried to explain it to me at the school I used to go when I was in 4th grade but it didn't make sense".

I see there is a marked difference in the culture of public and private education.

Public education is dropping behind.

A new 5th grade student told me she likes this new to her school because the teachers didn't have to keep asking the students to be quiet and pay attention. And the food was better  

Yep, good point.

I see a marked difference between the 'classes'. It seems the difference [ for lack of better terms] between social classes today is getting greater. There are some great kids today that are polite, respectful and smarter than when I was their age. But they seem to be the minority today. I see too many that show no resemblance to the above kids.