Oregon Dept. of Ed Warns Of 'White Supremacy' In Math

Eric Scheiner | February 16, 2021

Oregon's Department of Education has sent out online information to educators entitled, "A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction," with a focus on removing racism from math.

"The concept of mathematics being purely objective is unequivocally false, and teaching it is even much less so," the toolkit that was sent out to educators last week reads. "Upholding the idea that there are always right and wrong answers perpetuate objectivity as well as fear of open conflict."

The instructional guide lists the ways in which white supremacy is perpetuated in math class. You swear it has to be a joke, but, no. 

 

The Daily Wire reports:

“White supremacy culture infiltrates math classrooms in everyday teacher actions,” the guide reads. “Coupled with the beliefs that underlie these actions, they perpetuate educational harm on Black, Latinx, and multilingual students, denying them full access to the world of mathematics.”   

The guide offers a year-long framework for “deconstructing racism in mathematics.” It calls for “visibilizing [sic] the toxic characteristics of white supremacy culture with respect to math.”  

Examples of classroom actions that allegedly perpetuate white supremacy include asking students to show their work, focusing on getting the right answer, tracking student success, and grading students. 

 

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Fox News reports the program also encourages teachers to "center ethnomathematics." The guidelines instruct educators to "identify and challenge the ways that math is used to uphold capitalist, imperialist, and racist views."

The ODE, led by Colt Gill, confirmed the letter to Fox News. ODE Communications Director Marc Siegel also defended the "Equitable Math" educational program, saying it "helps educators learn key tools for engagement, develop strategies to improve equitable outcomes for Black, Latinx, and multilingual students, and join communities of practice."

You can view some of the information provided in the "toolkit" in the video above.