| In 2001 the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded a report called Dismantling Racism in Math Instruction: A Pathway to Equitable Instruction. It’s being widely disseminated across the education world. The point of the guide is to “dismantle white supremacy by making visible the toxic characteristics of white supremacy culture with respect to math.”
We understand how history or literature could be taught in a racist way, but MATH? Here are some of the supposed characteristics of white supremacy in teaching math: “perfectionism, sense of urgency, defensiveness, quantity over quality, worship of the written word, paternalism, either/or thinking, power hoarding, fear of open conflict, individualism, only one right way…” Kali Fontanilla of the Capital Research Center (and a former public school teacher) exposed this nonsense and published a pretty good takedown: When you were in 4th grade frantically completing a timed multiplication test, if you were any color other than white, you were being oppressed by the pressure to get it done quickly. Were you penalized for an incorrect answer? Doubly oppressed! Was your grade lowered because your handwriting was illegible on your answers? No doubt, you are now owed reparations! As ridiculous as this sounds, this is the current reality our black and brown public-school students are facing. Especially if their left-leaning math instructors have bought into the ridiculous ideology that “rigid” (and practical) math instruction is “white supremacist” and has been set up to “oppress” minorities. Since practically everything is “racist” now, including drinking milk and asking your students to speak proper English, why not add math instruction to the mix? |
