Finneran: It’s Worse Than You Thought
Friday, November 01, 2019
Tom Finneran
They really could not be that crazy, could they?
Then, upon further reflection, you shrug your shoulders and concede that the lunacy is very far advanced.
When America dies, the autopsy will show the cause of death as academic suicide.
Here’s the headline:
“Seattle to Teach Math as Oppression”.
I kid you not. Reason Magazine goes on to report that Seattle is preparing an ethnic studies curriculum for its schools which encompasses “social justice” in all subjects. Yes, you’ve heard this correctly. According to Reason, math will now be taught replete with accusations of racism, imperialism, dehumanization, and the oppression of marginalized communities.
No sane person could take this seriously. But consider this, that teachers and administrators are neck-deep in this madness and reportedly excited about the new curriculum. And apparently there are no rational civic leaders to say “NO” to this rot. It seems that the adults have once again left the premises.
On behalf of the befuddled educators, let me quote Robert Berry, III, the President of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics: “What they’re doing follows the line of work we hope we can move forward as we think about the history of math and who contributes to that, and also about deepening students’ connection with identity and agency”. Huh? What crap.
Here’s my summary of the “history of math”: 2 plus 2 equals 4. Always has, always will.
Here’s my black neighbor’s summary of the “history of math”: 2 plus 2 equals 4. Always has, always will.
And our children agree, 2 plus 2 equals 4. Of course the kids only came to that conclusion because they are “privileged”, meaning that they had parents who actually cared and who would say “no” to the emerging idiotic fashions of the day.
The academic and social justice jargon is astounding. The math proposal will “explain how math dictates economic oppression”. Oh, now I understand, that when I borrowed a few hundred thousand dollars to buy a house, the math of those monthly payments was a vicious oppression. Where can I get my “I am a victim” t-shirt? This foreclosure I’m going through seems so mean-spirited The math proposal will also show how math has been used to “exploit natural resources”. Oh, yeah, that rigid rule of 2 plus 2 brought on strip-mining in Appalachia. God do I aspire to such wokeness.
Rod Dreher, writing in the American Conservative offered a stinging critique of Seattle’s nonsense:
“The young people who are going to learn real math are those whose parents can afford to send them to private schools. The public school kids of all races are going to get dumber and dumber……..and that is going to compel the wokesters in charge of Human Resources at institutions along life’s way to demand changing standards to fit political goals. Eventually, bridges are going to start falling down. That too will be the fault of Whiteness.”
As for me, I wonder what goes on at our teacher colleges where this stuff incubates and multiplies. And, as noted, I wonder at the silence of civic leaders. Are they afraid to say “NO”? Are they afraid to fire a few folks for manifest incompetence, if only to achieve a certain clarity of thought around the concept of 2 plus 2.
Sadly, I could make a winning wager on the hunch that Seattle’s school kids are not ready for the real world. They may be “woke” but those multiplication tables are stubborn facts.
Math as oppression indeed. Say goodnight to America. It’s time to weep at her passing.
Tom Finneran is the former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, served as the head the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, and was a longstanding radio voice in Boston radio.
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