Sunday, April 04, 2021

I remember when math was boring but not racist


Back in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I loved my algebra teacher but hated the subject.  She was a wonderful lady who would always remind me that 2 plus 2 equals 4 whenever I would try to say something confusing.  She would say there is no confusion in math because the numbers add up or they don't.

Well, my guess is that my old teacher is retired and wondering what the left is doing with her favorite subject.

This is the latest from the madness at our universities:

An Oregon Department of Education newsletter from February promoted an online course designed to "dismantle" instances of "white supremacy culture in the mathematics classroom."

One example of "white supremacy" highlighted by the course was "the concept of mathematics being purely objective," an idea which the resource stated is "is unequivocally false." 

The program, known as "A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction," describes itself as "an integrated approach to mathematics that centers Black, Latinx, and Multilingual students" that provides "opportunities for ongoing self-reflection as they seek to develop an anti-racist math practice."

Did you get that? That's the most confusing thing I've heard since trying to figure out the lyrics to Don McLean's "American Pie."  I'm talking about "the father son and the holy ghost catching the last train for the coast."  Didn't Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper die in a plane crash?  What train is he talking about?  Maybe I need to hear it again, all nine minutes of it!

It appears that math is now racist, too.  Who knew that?  I didn't.

According to the wokes, math instruction should be built on an "equitable foundation."  What does that mean?

I would have gotten an A in every math class by simply answering with my feelings rather than sweating calculations and crazy algebra.  Where were these wokes when I needed them in ninth-grade algebra?

In all seriousness, these "woke" professors should be locked up for poisoning young minds with this garbage.  Sooner, rather than later, these young minds will learn that you can't make a budget with feelings, but rather with correct math answers.

In the real world, 2 plus 2 does equal 4, and these students are being sold a bunch of lies by state employees funded by taxpayers who had better get their numbers right on their tax returns.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).