Posted on 04/15/2023 11:36:09 AM PDT by nickcarraway
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Saying 2+2=4 is an example of covert white supremacy, according to a group of influential math teachers in Ontario. Questioning them on their assertion simply means you are an anti-trans, anti-immigrant person who doesn’t like anyone who isn’t white.
Welcome to another day in Ontario’s public education system.
This latest round of insanity started when Toronto-based writer Ari Blaff published an article in the New York-based National Review. Blaff noted a workshop provided by math teacher Jason To, which dealt with overt and covert white supremacy in math.
A slide used by To in a presentation last September was titled “White Supremacy in Math Education” and featured a pyramid with overt examples of white supremacy, such as segregated classrooms and racist word problems. The bottom of the pyramid included phrases such as “Standardized testing,” “Just stick to math,” and “Of course math is neutral because 2+2=4.”
The article in the National Review and the fact that some leading teachers in Ontario are claiming objective math truths are examples of white supremacy has caused a bit of a stir online, mostly with Americans aghast at what is going on here. Anyone concerned about students getting a proper education should be concerned about this sort of ideology being injected into the classroom.
The presentation that To gave, and that Blaff profiled, wasn’t using official Ontario Ministry of Education materials. To is president of the Ontario Mathematics Coordinators Association (OMCA), a group that isn’t part of the ministry but is influential, nonetheless.
As criticism of To’s presentation and the views of the OMCA grew online, the group put out a statement lashing out at their critics.
“Contrary to misinformed reporting, a math fact such as the sum of 2 and 2 is equal to 4 has never been in dispute for OMCA members,” the statement said.
“What is concerning is how math facts are juxtaposed with rigid views of race and gender to legitimize racism and the erasure of transgender people.”
The statement then links to a series of random tweets, not made in relation to the article or criticism of OMCA, but just random tweets collected by To, going back to last year. The statement, signed by To and the executive of the OMCA, goes on to say that their issue is not with a math fact, “but rather how a math fact along with its inherent social privilege of objectivity can be taken and weaponized to uphold bigotry and white supremacy ideology.”
In 2021, when the Ford government ordered the removal of material in the revised provincial math curriculum stating that math had been used to “normalize racism and marginalization of non-Eurocentric mathematical knowledges,” this group complained.
It would be easy to dismiss this group and unworthy of concern considering that they have no official role with the Ministry of Education or the establishment of Ontario’s curriculum, but that would be a mistake.
To, the president of the group, is the “Coordinator, Secondary Mathematics and Academic Pathways,” according to his LinkedIn profile. The past president, Heather Theijsmeijer, is the math coordinator for Rainbow District School Board which covers a large portion of northern Ontario while the remaining board members are coordinators for math in Ottawa, Kingston and Brant.
These are people with a tremendous amount of influence on how Ontario students are taught and they are injecting their politics into the classroom in ways that should never happen.
“In math, let’s stick with math,” Ford said in July 2021 when removing the language from the math curriculum.
That statement, according to these radical teachers, is a form of white supremacy. Maybe it’s time for these teachers to leave the classroom because no matter how much they scream racism, 2+2 still equals 4 and in the classroom, they should stick to math.
Listen to the Full Comment podcast on the teacher who rejected wokeness.
When Chanel Pfahl started teaching at an Ontario public school, she didn’t expect the curriculum to include lessons about how everything is racist, including math. When she told her Facebook followers about her disagreement with what she considered the indoctrination of students into critical race theory, she found herself under investigation by the Ontario College of Teachers. Pfahl joins Full Comment host Brian Lilley to discuss why she’s worried about what she sees being taught to Canadian kids, the refusal to allow parents and teachers to question it, and how she’s working to change it. (Recorded March 21, 2023)
And how racist are they to say all "people of color" are too stupid to do math?
what’s crack dealer have to day about that???
Banks won’t keep open checking accounts that use that kind of math.
Cannot keep your bank balance correct in your checkbook register?
Bounce checks?
They WILL BLACKLIST YOU.
It’s racist from the beginning of time, if you’re born white or with a brain with IQs greater than mice.
Any “teacher” who says that is dumb as dog crap and should have his teaching credential revoked.
That means if you let them borrow 2 dollars now, and 2 dollars later, they would pay you back with 3 dollars, because they’re not racist.
What a bunch of gobbledegook. Unless this crap is stamped out once and for all (and quickly), we will all be speaking Mandarin and reading from Mao's Little Red Book.
You thought it was bad when your phone calls were answered with "Para inglés, presione dos"? Wait until your call is answered with "对于英语，请按两个."
Idiots ought to watch Hidden Figures. Great movie about the contribution of women towards early space program.
I believe teachers are pretty much agents of leftist indoctrination, especially if you send your children to public schools/indoctrination camps.
Not to worry. India and China have untold millions of intelligent individuals who excel in the STEM areas. Our N.American grads will be able to get jobs laying out snacks, serving tea & coffee, and arranging tables & chairs in conference rooms.
O’Brien: You are a slow learner, Winston!
Winston Smith: How can I help it? How can I help seeing what is in front of my eyes? Two and two are four!
O’Brien: Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not easy to become sane.
If the government claims that 2 + 2 = 5 the teachers will be parroting it like the dumb slaves they are.
Literally Orwell’s prediction.
Very underrated movie.
Question. How can discarding the truth about one correct
answer for mathematics questions allow people to work on “rocket science” or fight medical problems and diseases with research, test the safety of bridges and buildings or otherwise accomplish anything we could call progress?
And without us, who can the Chinese steal from to copy?
It’s a revolving door. The “academy” (radical teaching colleges) teach it, teachers and teacher’s unions lap it up, then the government follows and reinforces it. Then the academy uses that to lurch even further left and rinse and repeat forever. At least until we are all speaking Mandarin.
‘If the government claims that 2 + 2 = 5 the teachers will be parroting it like the dumb slaves they are.’
yes; it beggars belief, but it is true...next thing you know, because the govenment says so, the medical community will recommend shutting down the society and wearing face diapers when you’re out and about...
oh, wait a minute...
I’d love to see Jason To’s reaction to Socrates’ “A = A.” Might as well be talking about segregated water fountains.
Publik skrewls are state sanctioned child abuse.
Agreed. Hidden Figures, tell a wonderful story. Their contribution to space travel was amazing.
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