Rantz: Seattle Schools document say math is oppressive, US government racist

I agree
I heard a story about Michael Jackson
At some point they were trying to teach him something in school
And apparently he replied that he wasn’t going to need to learn that—-what ever it was, maybe calculus
Anyway, though this story rubs me the wrong way...
Ultimately, probably Jackson was right

and, I have to say that although I learned calculus.... I doubt that my life would be worse if I had not

and as it turns out, there was a lot of my education that has not turned out to be all that useful

I do however feel grossly uncomfortable labeling mathematics as racist
As if somehow white people are genetically better adapted to learn math
I think this sort of assertion is frankly insulting to those racial minorities

 

Ahem, you should say Ages of Color.

 

I agree with you general sentiments but not the political correctness that needs to hide certain differences and implicitly pretend they matter more than they do. In this regard, let me say a few things:

1- There could very well be genetic reasons that would favor "blacks" as a whole in certain fields in athletics or in certain aspects of music. There could very well be genetic reasons that would favor "whites" over "blacks" (but clearly not over "Asians") in certain other fields such as mathematics. As long as people don't use these overall differences for totally wrong, illogical (and inhumane) purposes to make decisions relating to any individual person (regardless of race), there is no reason to hide this fact. To do so, in fact, promotes real racism and suggests these generalized differences mean more than they do.

2- Regardless of these generalized differences, there is no reason why any normal, healthy, kid of any race should not be taught basic math, music, or participate in sports. Some will struggle more than others in some of these fields, but all kids need to learn that hard work and perseverance, and the habits associated with it, are part of the most important lessons they can learn in school. Indeed, besides the basics, picking up right habits and abstaining from wrong ones should be the most important lessons people learn in school.

3- Regardless of any generalized differences across 'races', there will always be a black kid named say "William" who will show greater aptitude and ability than a white kid named say "Donald" even in mathematics. There is nothing "white", for instance, about the black mathematician William A. Macey (Princeton professor) no more than there is anything black necessarily in Donald Trump! But I wouldn't want Donald Trump to teach my kids math or any other subjects for that matter, while I am sure there is plenty that a William Macey can teach them when it comes to math. Ultimately, we are individuals and generalizations on race can no more turn an athletically challenge black kid into the next Michael Jordan than they can make an intellectually challenged white kid into the next Maryam Mirzakhani (first ever woman to win the Fields Medal in mathematics) or Caucher Birkar (born Fereydoun Derakhshani, winner of the Fields Medal in mathematics this year) in mathematics.

4- Even if IQ tests truly showed innate intelligence, and regardless that the average IQ of certain groups of people are higher than another group of people, that doesn't make the IQ of a black kid who happens to be Mensa member lower than the IQ of some random white kid (not to mention plenty of retards by any measure who happen to be white) who might want to use these "averages" to claim superiority for "whites". We are each individuals who should be judged individually and not part of any group, even if cheer that group. A person like me, for instance, is an avid follower of Iran's national football (soccer) team. If my team loses to say Spain, or beats Morocco, it doesn't mean that I am any worse or better football player individually compared to some other person from those countries!

5- I think most studies have shown far greater correlation between success in life based on hard work, discipline and such other good habits (and abstaining from bad ones) than any correlation between IQ and success. I believe there was a Harvard study that tracked a group of kids with high IQ and compared them with a group of kids who were showing good disciplinary traits but who otherwise had average IQs. Not surprisingly, the latter kids proved a lot more successful in life (including in academic accomplishments) than the former.

6- Racism is a sickness which pervades American culture (and Western culture more generally) because it became an ideology to justify exploitation and inhumane treatment of certain people. I hope America (and Western culture more generally) find a cure for this illness!

 

Cultural prejudice, even ones tinged with racial notions, are quite prevalent in many parts of the world. But ideologically driven racism of the kind in America and as emerged in Western civilization following its ascendancy (particularly after the 18th century) is rather sui generis and frankly not comparable to what is seen elsewhere.

 

California public schools are way ahead of Washington's schools.

In California, dos plus dos equis cinco.

And if you ever grow a pair and try correct them, you are a xenophobic racist.

 

This is amazing. I'm gonna send 5 dollars for my next mortgage payment and of they dare tell me my math is off I shall sue them for oppression!!!
I thought liberal lame brain policies were suck but o can certainly get on board with this!

 

What a crock of shet. Even if homo sapiens never existed ever in any shape, form, color, or tribe, MATH IS.

 

What a stunningly stupid thing to say, 'Math is racist and oppressive'. If the people who can't do math were good at it, it wouldn't be racist; but they suck at math and therefore it must be racist. The poor mathematical ability of people screaming that math is racist has to be because whitey is oppressing them. It couldn't be because they have low IQs.
This newest whine from these idiot sjw comes in second to them being triggered by the white walk sign.
This ridiculousness doesn't bode well for human evolution.

 

Yo, your lefty friends got busted again being dumbasses; and making excuses for themselves because they lack mathematical abilities, and you turn it around and make it about those evil Christians who teach anti-science (creationism) in their schools. Pretty sure the kids going to these anti-science schools score higher in math on national exams than their counterparts in public education .

 

There is no "western" math. Math is the same everywhere. It's the same in Ireland as it is in Zimbabwe, as it is on the moon, the sun, and all the planets. Grow the eff up. Its time for civilization to stop making excuses for the fact that we are not all intellectually equal. You can't do math because you aren't smart enough to do it, not because it's "western". Case closed.

 

Like it or lump it, MATH is the underlying operating system of the universe. MATH IS.

Millions of manmade ideas are wrong. MATH is not among those; it is not manmade although it has to be mansplained or womansplained to understand it.

 

Not understanding MATH has consequences. Like at FIU with their deadly footbridge collapse.

 

Except on a curved surface.

 

Theodosius of Bithynia came on the scene about 400 years after Pythagorus with some of that curved analysis, still B.C.

One great standing on the shoulders of another to go higher is generally how it goes.

 

I'm not so sure of the accuracy of the OP, however I can see the problem with the schools. And it is not exactly racist.

There is a kind of stratification that occurs in the Northwest, in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. There are the locals, those whose families have been there for a hundred years or more. The schools are among the worse in the country, with high school graduation rates in the 70% range. Mental illness is rather common as are birth defects.

But then places like Portland and Seattle have rather high numbers of well qualified college graduates, especially in the STEM areas. The vast majority of these college graduates are from outside the area. Gentrification has driven many of the natives into homelessness.

 

Certainly. Although I might add that "Pythagorean theorem" was around for at last a 1,000 years
before Pythagoras.
Our Australian aborigines were not noble as a people - they torched the country and warred
against each other. The ancient Greeks gave us the Parthenon, the aborigines gave us stone
tools.

 

I don't want to discuss the OP per se, as it is irrelevant.

But I do want to make these points:

1- In one sense, you are absolutely right: there is no 'western' math. The truth in mathematical formula and concepts does not change across cultures. But, at the same time, there is most certainly a clear bias in 'western education', which seeks to implant a false idea that human progress in various fields (including in mathematics) is the product of 'western civilization'. And that is chauvinist, racist, and false. As false as saying 2+2 =5!

2- As mentioned already, the "Pythagorean theorem" did not originate with the ancient Greeks.

https://www.britannica.com/science/Pythagorean-theorem

The term 'algebra' itself comes from the works of a Persian mathematician, Khwarizmi, who wrote his work in Arabic, and did what the ancient Greeks had done: add to the knowledge from different cultures acquired from prior generations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_ibn_Musa_al-Khwarizmi

Try to solve any serious mathematical equation using "Roman numerals" and take out the contributions of other civilizations from mathematics and see where that leaves you!

3- Teaching people these false ideas about "western civilization" (whose achievements are notable regardless), trying to connect everything to it, leads to the kind of stupidity that underlines the racism that afflicts western civilization. An affliction that is its most monstrous and dangerous disease.

4- I already said this in my first message and I repeat it here. A group of chauvinists from northern Europe (a place that before the 17th century was almost nothing in the larger scheme of history) who had come to power and privilege by the kind of forces in history that had brought such power and privilege to various other peoples before them (and for much longer than them) needed to justify that power and privilege somehow. All their achievements were, of course, built on the achievements of other civilizations and peoples before them. But they needed to claim it all for themselves! Never mind the whole ironic silliness of "Aryan" supremacy theories that emerged (which I addressed in my first post on this thread), even the more 'mainstream' attempts to somehow weave everything into a tale of superiority of western civilization ultimately produces racism.

5- Math is math. I agree. But I disagree that 'western education' would not benefit greatly from genuine, scholarly (as opposed to opposite mythology that seeks to somehow make past historical figures 'Africans') attempts to teach people of the actual contributions (and its opposite forces) of all human civilizations to what we have learned and where we are today. Whether that should be called "Ethnic Studies" are simply "education" is, however, something that I leave for you to decide!

6- There are plenty of racists in this forum. Imagine one of these days the Chinese truly taking over the world. Unlike you guys, the Chinese do have some of the more "objective" generalized qualities to claim racial superiority based on intelligence. The average brain size, average IQ, along with a continuous civilization dating 3,000+ years, to go hand in hand with the increasing Asian dominance in math and science education, all could help them weave a better tale of "racial superiority" that you have tried! Imagine the Chinese doing what guys what you did to POC in your history of slavery, segregation and such. I certainly hope that never happens, but I am sick and tired of people finding different ways to promote the say stupid racism that has been the greatest 'contribution' of 'western civilization' in more recent times! Even greater in significance and affect on people's lives than some of its genuinely laudable and praiseworthy contributions!

 

First of all: East Asian geniuses. Yep, they can definitely crunch the numbers. What good is crunching numbers though if you can't imagine how to use the information? To be a true genius you need intelligence and creativity because both necessary for evolution. The Chinese are basically devoid of creativity. Even the Chinese president chided the Chinese for being so uncreative.

Anyway: So what you are saying is that the west stole all of its achievements from everyone else; and that everyone else has a right to be chauvinists but westerners don't. Then give up your electricity, computers, cell phones, refrigerator, cars, planes, space programs, western medicine, the biological sciences like genetics etc.

China claims to be the oldest and most inventive civilization the world has ever known. Yet, China is using western technology today, and much of that technology was stolen. Can you name one thing that is exclusively Chinese that China uses that improves the living conditions in China? If the Chinese were such great inventors, why was the country so backwards for so many thousands of years? Did they forget how to use the technology they invented? Same with the Africans, Indians, and South Americans. They also claim that the west stole everything from everyone else. Saying that you were the original mathematicians, scientists, astronomers, doctors etc. while modern-day life is based almost exclusively on western technology kind of makes the credibility of that claim suspicious. Let's just say that inventing something and then not building on or using that new technology, or somehow forgetting that technology doesn't count.

https://atlantablackstar.com/2014/10/01/12-african-inventions-that-changed-the-world/
This is a website that claims math was invented by the Africans. Did they devolve or something, because blacks can't do math to save their souls. They come in last on national and international math exams. The same for the 'indigenous' South Americans. It is the people that can't do math that are ridiculously claiming that western math is a white man's conspiracy designed to keep everyone oppressed.

I hope these creative people that claim they invented everything would start inventing stuff again because the planet needs new technology. We are like rats running around in a wheel getting nowhere right now. I'm hoping someone in Somali invents fusion energy. That would be grand.

 

I don't know what studies you have been looking at, but I'm pretty sure that the wealth of one's parents is the greatest indicator of achedemic success of a child. It is said that a child with an IQ in the bottom quarter, but with wealthy parents is more likely to get college degree than a child an IQ in the top quarter but with poor parents.

 

Yeah.... when schools are sold out to sell junkfood, and occasions turns into a war zone....
where could this all go wrong?

 

Recent DNA advances, coupled with archeological and linguistical studies, has allowed scientists to solve some of the mysteries, such as are being discussed in this thread.

Much came from people who lived in what is now central Russia, where Europe meets Asia. They were the first to ride horses and herd cattle. They invented the wheel, the chariot, and the wagon. Their greatest contribution was language. Almost all the European languages, as well as Iranian, and some Indian (country of India) languages can trace their origin back to these people who lived about 5000 years ago. The chariots that the Chinese used, as well as the ones the Greeks and Romans, are derived from the chariots of these ancient people. Often called the Indo_Europeans.

There is a line of thought that says people's skin gets lighter the further north one lives. Turns out that at one time all people had dark skin and black hair, regardless of where one lived. About the time the last ice age receeded from Europe a new race of people emerged, possibly along the banks if the Baltic Sea. These new people had blonde hair, blue eyes, white skin, and were taller than other people. It most likely began as a mutation that was spread by sexual attraction.

As the Indo-Europeans spread out they met this new white race and they merged into the corded-ware culture that came to dominate northern Europe until the bronze age. A group of these people migrated to what is now northern India, some going as far as Iran. In India there is a graduation of dark people in the south and much lighter people in the north. DNA studies have shown that light skinned Indians have a high percentage of DNA from the the proto-Europeans. In the south of India, the dark people have none of this proto-European DNA. This is independent of the British occupation.

It has even been shown that along the Mediterranean, in Africa, the lighter skin is due to ancient people migrating from Europe and mixing with and or displacing the Black people who lived there

The whiteness of Europe was then accomplished by these northern Europeans migrating southwards. At first it was quite slow and came as a rush only in the last couple of millennia. Especially during the Viking age.

Calculus was first discovered by a German and then an Englishman, both of who are northern Europeans. The stream engine was invented by a Scot and the internal combustion was invented by a German.

The computer has been mostly developed by Americans of Germanic descent.

One can even make the argument that the Ashkenazi Jews can only claim higher intelligence because they are half German. Jews from elsewhere tend to not do so well.

 

In 1980 Ronald Reagan was elected as president of the United States. While governor of California he had began a war against schools and students because so many students tended to oppose his silliness. As president he brought in William Bennett who did everything he could do to gut the department of education. In their ongoing efforts to give the wealthiest ever more tax cuts, all across the country Republicans have been doing their best to cut as much funding from schools as possible. You get what you pay for.

 

To the extent the ability to be "creative" can be measured, it will not be measured by you citing the Chinese president and making conclusory statements and treating them as fact!

I am not saying anyone "stole" anything from anyone else. Human beings learn from other human beings and based on their socio-political environment and their own interest and capabilities, will add to what others have done. Western civilization borrowed heavily from the first civilizations in the Middle East, but added enough distinctive qualities by the time of the ancient Greeks in particular, to become a distinct civilization of its own. Subsequently, another group of people in Rome, took the achievements of ancient Greece and built on those and the Greco-Roman civilization of the Roman empire emerged. At that same time, you had vibrant civilizations elsewhere, in particular in Iran and China. Iran itself was a main rival of Rome, fought Rome for 800 years or thereabouts, and in particular during the Sassanid empire, often had the upper hand in those battles. Its civilization was in many ways as absorbing as that of Rome, which is why even the Romans (who had a habit to use propaganda to put down other people) were quite respectful of the Persians in almost all their writings.

Eventually, after the Arab conquests of the Persian empire, and much of the Byzantine empire, what arose from the traditions of the ancient civilizations that underpinned the new Islamic civilization that emerged and reached its zenith during the Golden Age of Islam (when predominately Persian scholars, writing in Arabic, studying the ancient Greeks as well as people from other civilizations including in India, moved the baton of human knowledge further). At this time, Europe had slumped into its "Dark Ages" and no one who lived in the Islamic world would look at Europe as anything but a backwater of inferior culture and civilization. That view is clear and prevalent in the writings from that period. Eventually, however, with the European renaissance , and many other events that helped usher the Age of Enlightenment, all of which had some debt to Muslim scholarship which was still until the 17th century the standard texts for teaching Europeans many subjects such as in medicine and mathematics and others, we witness the ascendancy of European civilization over those in the Middle East as well as in China. Modern advances in knowledge were of a nature that made the distances between these civilizations rather significant. At the same time, the most advanced areas in this new civilization were now basically in places such as France, Germany and England and not in the lands which had been more proximate to the Middle East, namely ancient Greece or even Rome (where its traditions had passed to the Eastern Roman empire, with its capital in Constantinople or modern day Istanbul). In some ways, these northwestern Europeans were newcomers to the civilization game. But they looked down not only on other civilizations, but even the people who had given them the mantle of the Western civilization they claimed, namely the modern day descendants of ancient Greeks or even the Italians (both comparatively poorer parts of Europe at this time). In any case, the efforts of these newcomers to the civilization game to produce a pedigree for themselves eventually led to an attempt to appropriate all that had been previously produced in other areas of the world and did so through the racial theories which they developed and which I addressed already in an earlier post.

In the meantime, unless you have personally invented something, your claim to it is no more legitimate than anyone else's and less so to anyone else who acquires that technology or invention through the ordinary processes that invest people of rights to such things. Which is ultimately my real point: you are only entitled to really brag about yourself, if you really have something to brag about.

p.s.
As for the rest of your comments, you have cited various claims which aren't necessarily supported by any legitimate scholarship and rely on unknown sources, and somehow lumped them with clearly established historical facts to which I have addressed in my comments. The only purpose I can discern from what you have done is the 'muddy up the waters'.