Seattle Schools Teaching Math Is Racist

[Kustonia]

https://www.seattletimes.com/education- ... n-in-math/
https://mynorthwest.com/1537267/dori-ma ... framework/
https://www.k12.wa.us/sites/default/fil ... Lp_mZ1mXb0

Schools in Seattle are now teaching that math is racist. A new framework has been laid out for the curriculum "Math Ethnic Studies." I just have two very important questions to ask: Is math racist? Are the answers to math problems connected to white supremacy?

[Torisakia]

First, what do you think Mr/s/x. OP?

[Grotesque Spore Creatures]

Schools in Seattle are now teaching that math is racist.

what

[Thermodolia]

What’s your opinion? Also do we have any none bloggy reports to back this up?

[Kowani]

Got any sources that aren’t crap?

[Drongonia]

Got any sources that aren’t crap?

The Seattle Times

I think the ethnic studies thing they're introducing is a load of... bulldust, let's say bulldust. But that's another thread. The source here from the Seattle Times seems to show that those other publications don't actually know what ethnic studies is.

[Cekoviu]

Here's a real source without the sensational garbage: https://www.seattletimes.com/education- ... n-in-math/

[Kubra]

K so let's have a source from a non right-wing source
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2019 ... anize.html
Sounds pretty innocent, man.

[Gagium]

K so let's have a source from a non right-wing source
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2019 ... anize.html
Sounds pretty innocent, man.

I believe that one of the sources is literally from the government website of the school accused of being left-wing...Got you though

[Drongonia]

To be fair, stuff like this is completely stupid and makes me so angry. They're indoctrinating children and convincing them that everything is racist. Math is not racist. It's numbers.

This quote from the EDweek article actually doesn't prove the OP wrong: "...questions that encourage students to explore how math has been “appropriated” by Western culture and used in systems of power and oppression."

The idea that math is racist because white people do it/teach it is absolutely insane and delusional. I believe the reason they're putting it to K-12 is so that by the time they are old enough to actually question what they've been taught, their brains will just be mush anyway.

[Kustonia]

K so let's have a source from a non right-wing source
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2019 ... anize.html
Sounds pretty innocent, man.

So are you going to answer my questions any time soon, or not? Take your time...

[Cekoviu]

To be fair, stuff like this is completely stupid and makes me so angry. They're indoctrinating children and convincing them that everything is racist. Math is not racist. It's numbers.

"...questions that encourage students to explore how math has been “appropriated” by Western culture and used in systems of power and oppression."

The field of mathematics is the argued problem, not the process of manipulating numbers and variables. Find a better argument.

[Kubra]

K so let's have a source from a non right-wing source
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2019 ... anize.html
Sounds pretty innocent, man.

I believe that one of the sources is literally from the government website of the school accused of being left-wing...Got you though

This is a proposal that is going forward into the approval rating with the school district itself. One school is reportedly attempting to incorporate some of the framework into its mathematics curriculum, but it remains unnamed.

[Gagium]

K so let's have a source from a non right-wing source
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2019 ... anize.html
Sounds pretty innocent, man.

So are you going to answer my questions any time soon, or not? Take your time...

I don’t believe he has to do anything the OP asks people to do.

[Chernoslavia]

K so let's have a source from a non right-wing source
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2019 ... anize.html
Sounds pretty innocent, man.

As if that's a legitimate reason to dismiss it.

[Kubra]

K so let's have a source from a non right-wing source
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2019 ... anize.html
Sounds pretty innocent, man.

So are you going to answer my questions any time soon, or not? Take your time...

They're trying to find a way to make kids more excited for mathematics. Pedagogy is a difficult process man, you gotta play around a bit to see what sticks.

[Drongonia]

The field of mathematics is the argued problem, not the process of manipulating numbers and variables. Find a better argument.

You're so so completely wrong here. This is a steaming hot pile of garbage take. Further down the article, they basically allege that the reason its racist is because math's roots are in empires of people of colour, and that's been co-opted by whites. So by that logic passing knowledge between races is appropriation.

Find a better argument.

[Totenborg]

Sounds like right wing clickbait sensationalism to me, as the actual program is pretty benign.

[Thermodolia]

K so let's have a source from a non right-wing source
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2019 ... anize.html
Sounds pretty innocent, man.

It’s not innocent. It’s still perpetuating racism just in a politically correct way. Now you’ll just have none white students learning about this ethnic math; learning things like how much do drug laws effect people, or Aztec math, while the white students won’t. Now we have a class of people who can’t understand math at all because they learned about Aztec Math instead the math that the US and the rest of the world uses

[Gagium]

I believe that one of the sources is literally from the government website of the school accused of being left-wing...Got you though

This is a proposal that is going forward into the approval rating with the school district itself. One school is reportedly attempting to incorporate some of the framework into its mathematics curriculum, but it remains unnamed.

Rather unfortunately..If we look at the site that happens to be from the school itself, it states that “[The class will] identify how math has been and continues to be used to oppress and marginalize people and communities of color.” Now, I don’t know who these obvious BIGOTTED RACISTS are that’re using MATH to OPPRESS communities of color, but - But I don’t think they exist...

[Thermodolia]

To be fair, stuff like this is completely stupid and makes me so angry. They're indoctrinating children and convincing them that everything is racist. Math is not racist. It's numbers.

"...questions that encourage students to explore how math has been “appropriated” by Western culture and used in systems of power and oppression."

The field of mathematics is the argued problem, not the process of manipulating numbers and variables. Find a better argument.

The field of mathematics isn’t racist in of itself. If anything it’s a melting pot, we use numbers created by Arabs, we have zeros from India, a lot of the base is from ancient Greece and Rome, and a whole bunch of other cultures and ethnicities are added on top

[Totenborg]

This is a proposal that is going forward into the approval rating with the school district itself. One school is reportedly attempting to incorporate some of the framework into its mathematics curriculum, but it remains unnamed.

Rather unfortunately..If we look at the site that happens to be from the school itself, it states that “[The class will] identify how math has been and continues to be used to oppress and marginalize people and communities of color.” Now, I don’t know who these obvious BIGOTTED RACISTS are that’re using MATH to OPPRESS communities of color, but - But I don’t think they exist...

If I had to guess, I'd assume one point they're talking about is how nationalists/racists misuse statistics regarding nationality/ race and criminality.

[Thermodolia]

Sounds like right wing clickbait sensationalism to me, as the actual program is pretty benign.

For a history class on math yes but not for a math class. You don’t need to learn about how the Aztecs did math when that won’t help you later in life.

[Thermodolia]

Rather unfortunately..If we look at the site that happens to be from the school itself, it states that “[The class will] identify how math has been and continues to be used to oppress and marginalize people and communities of color.” Now, I don’t know who these obvious BIGOTTED RACISTS are that’re using MATH to OPPRESS communities of color, but - But I don’t think they exist...

If I had to guess, I'd assume one point they're talking about is how nationalists/racists misuse statistics regarding nationality/ race and criminality.

That has nothing to do with math in of itself. The racism here is on the person misrepresenting the information given not the information.

[Cekoviu]

The field of mathematics is the argued problem, not the process of manipulating numbers and variables. Find a better argument.

The field of mathematics isn’t racist in of itself. If anything it’s a melting pot, we use numbers created by Arabs, we have zeros from India, a lot of the base is from ancient Greece and Rome, and a whole bunch of other cultures and ethnicities are added on top

English has letters originating in the Egyptian script and words from basically every language family. And yet speakers of the language still manage to use it in racist ways.