What Will It Take?

I can't stop thinking about the racist math problems that I posted about the other day. I'm not trying to overdo it with this topic, but it just absolutely floors me that in the year 2012, this kind of ignorance is still widespread enough for things like this to appear in kids' school assignments. So I think it needs to be discussed. A lot.

What's worse is the flimsy justification that the math problems were supposed to coordinate with social studies lessons. That makes me wonder what in the world those kids are learning in their social studies and other classes.

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Obviously, the larger issue of racism isn't limited to public schools - it's everywhere, still. I just read an article about a racial slur used to describe a customer on a Papa John's receipt. And that was in Manhattan, just last Friday.  So clearly it doesn't matter whether you're in a huge, supposedly cosmopolitan city or in rural Georgia. Ignorance is everywhere.

Worst Assignment Ever?

And I thought I hated math problems when I had to do them as a child.  Check out this article about the ridiculously racist homework (math word problems) given to 3rd graders at a school in Georgia.  Here's a preview:

"Each tree had 56 oranges. If eight slaves pick them equally, then how much would each slave pick?"

Yes, you read that correctly. And there's more!

File this one under the heading, "WTF?!"  Please comment, people. I'm shocked at the degree of ignorance here.

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