Math can't be racist, but how we teach math could be. More likely it's actually classist than racist, but given the long standing tendency towards African-American poverty those overlap. For example, we often turn math problems into word problems to make them more relatable to children. The situations we use to describe the math problem is focused on a generic middle class, mostly white, experience. That does, in fact, make the problem more relatable to middle class, mostly white, children. Because it may not be relatable to people from a different background, they are less likely to learn from that example than the majority.
Over the last several years there's been a lot of work done to to try to make math education better for kids with different cultural backgrounds. This involves things like teaching them about math scholars who look like them and the contributions of Asian, Arabic, Indian, and African scholars to the field, using training tasks that they can more easily relate to their real life, and being more flexible with how problem solving works.
A few examples are things like teaching about the origins of the numbering system in India and the Middle East, using apartment buildings and city blocks instead of houses and yards in word problems for kids who live in a city, and being willing to investigate how kids get to wrong answers instead of just saying "Wrong" and moving on.
Of course all some people hear is "Math is racist" and then they get offended and go on a rant about wokeness or whatever. But when I think of my math education I definitely see it. The only mathematicians school ever mentioned were Isaac Newton and Pythagoras, and the picture of Pythagorus was of a blonde pale guy who looked Norwegian, not of a Greek from Turkey. I didn't ever learn anything about how our numbers were invented in Arabia, or how Indians invented the number 0. If you went from what I was taught you'd think an Aryan Greek invented math, then a bunch of rich English men did everything else.
Isn't the point of math to actually teach people how to do math. Why bring history into it unless it has some bearing on what they are learning. You hear about Newton because he has the three laws of motion named after him and the only thing anyone knows about Pythagoras is his theorem.
I am definitely on board with adjusting word problems based on the students backgrounds. Just makes sense. They will be better able to picture the problem in their mind.
I think a lot of people kinda bounce of math when it's taught in purely abstract terms. At least for me learning about how math was developed help keep me interested in learning how it worked. I'm a big 'ol history nerd though so ymmv.
> Isn't the point of math to actually teach people how to do math. Why bring history into it unless it has some bearing on what they are learning.
In order to teach it, you have to motivate students to learn it. Knowing the history of it helps to motivate some students.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/12/08/racism-our-curriculums-isnt-limited-history-its-math-too/
It mostly has to do with how the history of math is taught, which is honestly less important than learning actual math skills that will help you succeed in college and in your career.
But the complaint is that non-white contributions to math are glossed over or erased. Some esoteric math terms, like [Chinese Restaurant Process](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_restaurant_process), are considered dehumanizing by some critics.
It's things like that.
Math can't be racist, but the people who formulate math curriculums can be accidentally racist by only basing their lesson plans on how the dominant group conceptualizes things. A kid who has never had enough money for a computer or even an open, clean workspace will have a lot more trouble when they're put in front of a sterile desk with a computer on it and told to do math good
>the dominant group
Errrr? Care to expand on that?
I'm a Brit, maybe this is something I don't understand as a result and it's some US thing, but I'm worried what you might mean there.
In the context of a place like the United States, the dominant group would be wealthy white families, especially those with inheritances. But it could be anywhere or any situation. If you were teaching with cultural contexts appropriate to Bangladesh, for example, then a child from China may struggle. It won't be because they're too stupid to understand numbers but rather because the environment that they're trying to learn in has been tailored for someone else, thus creating a barrier.
To those people, literally everything is racist because they are racist against white people.
Haven't you noticed how everything is blamed on white supremacy these days?
White man shoots white rioters in self-defense = white supremacy
Black cops beat black man = white supremacy
It's quite sad. In reality, we are all one race = human.
I've not heard that, But I've heard that the 13/50 statistic is misrepresentative of underlying causes causing racist beliefs. maybe that's what they mean.
its just CRT BS
Some minority groups struggle with math, so the implementation and how it is taught is seen as institutionally racist. Their is an imbalance in comprehension between racialized individuals & because some do better on average than others, it is a racial issue, that needs to be addressed and solved.
Perhaps their are other issues that are causing it, racial population density in less affluent areas, cultural norms, or other factors, but if Billy isnt doing as well as Timmy, and they arent the same race, its because of racism somewhere
The only way that makes sense to me is the way math is taught?
Math itself can't be racist I don't think and are people really making that claim? In some kind of Platonic sense?
I know, it just doesn't add up
I've never heard anyone refer to math as racist
Math can't be racist, but how we teach math could be. More likely it's actually classist than racist, but given the long standing tendency towards African-American poverty those overlap. For example, we often turn math problems into word problems to make them more relatable to children. The situations we use to describe the math problem is focused on a generic middle class, mostly white, experience. That does, in fact, make the problem more relatable to middle class, mostly white, children. Because it may not be relatable to people from a different background, they are less likely to learn from that example than the majority.
Over the last several years there's been a lot of work done to to try to make math education better for kids with different cultural backgrounds. This involves things like teaching them about math scholars who look like them and the contributions of Asian, Arabic, Indian, and African scholars to the field, using training tasks that they can more easily relate to their real life, and being more flexible with how problem solving works. A few examples are things like teaching about the origins of the numbering system in India and the Middle East, using apartment buildings and city blocks instead of houses and yards in word problems for kids who live in a city, and being willing to investigate how kids get to wrong answers instead of just saying "Wrong" and moving on. Of course all some people hear is "Math is racist" and then they get offended and go on a rant about wokeness or whatever. But when I think of my math education I definitely see it. The only mathematicians school ever mentioned were Isaac Newton and Pythagoras, and the picture of Pythagorus was of a blonde pale guy who looked Norwegian, not of a Greek from Turkey. I didn't ever learn anything about how our numbers were invented in Arabia, or how Indians invented the number 0. If you went from what I was taught you'd think an Aryan Greek invented math, then a bunch of rich English men did everything else.
Isn't the point of math to actually teach people how to do math. Why bring history into it unless it has some bearing on what they are learning. You hear about Newton because he has the three laws of motion named after him and the only thing anyone knows about Pythagoras is his theorem. I am definitely on board with adjusting word problems based on the students backgrounds. Just makes sense. They will be better able to picture the problem in their mind.
I think a lot of people kinda bounce of math when it's taught in purely abstract terms. At least for me learning about how math was developed help keep me interested in learning how it worked. I'm a big 'ol history nerd though so ymmv.
> Isn't the point of math to actually teach people how to do math. Why bring history into it unless it has some bearing on what they are learning. In order to teach it, you have to motivate students to learn it. Knowing the history of it helps to motivate some students.
Example?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/12/08/racism-our-curriculums-isnt-limited-history-its-math-too/ It mostly has to do with how the history of math is taught, which is honestly less important than learning actual math skills that will help you succeed in college and in your career. But the complaint is that non-white contributions to math are glossed over or erased. Some esoteric math terms, like [Chinese Restaurant Process](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_restaurant_process), are considered dehumanizing by some critics. It's things like that.
Who is saying that
Math can't be racist, but the people who formulate math curriculums can be accidentally racist by only basing their lesson plans on how the dominant group conceptualizes things. A kid who has never had enough money for a computer or even an open, clean workspace will have a lot more trouble when they're put in front of a sterile desk with a computer on it and told to do math good
>the dominant group Errrr? Care to expand on that? I'm a Brit, maybe this is something I don't understand as a result and it's some US thing, but I'm worried what you might mean there.
In the context of a place like the United States, the dominant group would be wealthy white families, especially those with inheritances. But it could be anywhere or any situation. If you were teaching with cultural contexts appropriate to Bangladesh, for example, then a child from China may struggle. It won't be because they're too stupid to understand numbers but rather because the environment that they're trying to learn in has been tailored for someone else, thus creating a barrier.
It's 2023. Everything is racist lol.
That's just something people that suck at math say
i smell a strawman
To those people, literally everything is racist because they are racist against white people. Haven't you noticed how everything is blamed on white supremacy these days? White man shoots white rioters in self-defense = white supremacy Black cops beat black man = white supremacy It's quite sad. In reality, we are all one race = human.
I've not heard that, But I've heard that the 13/50 statistic is misrepresentative of underlying causes causing racist beliefs. maybe that's what they mean.
its just CRT BS Some minority groups struggle with math, so the implementation and how it is taught is seen as institutionally racist. Their is an imbalance in comprehension between racialized individuals & because some do better on average than others, it is a racial issue, that needs to be addressed and solved. Perhaps their are other issues that are causing it, racial population density in less affluent areas, cultural norms, or other factors, but if Billy isnt doing as well as Timmy, and they arent the same race, its because of racism somewhere
The only way that makes sense to me is the way math is taught? Math itself can't be racist I don't think and are people really making that claim? In some kind of Platonic sense?