The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is funding efforts to eliminate “racism” from mathematics lessons in American schools. A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction contains resources and guidance documents to help teachers “dismantle racism” in math, which they claim is derived from white supremacy. Instructions include abandoning requirements that students show how they reach a mathematical conclusion or even that they provide the correct answer. Asking pupils to answer a math question accurately is racist, according to the documents.
“White supremacy culture infiltrates math classrooms in everyday teacher actions,” the guidance claims, adding that this causes “educational harm” to non-white students.
The notion of racism in math is not new and is primarily based on lower test scores by black and ethnic minority students. Seattle math teacher Shraddha Shirude says math is a way of understanding the world, and because America is built on “toxic” whiteness, math is similarly influenced. Shirude introduced ethnic math classes to counter an education system that provides only one “master narrative.”
Nevertheless, research suggests that focusing on race in mathematics harms non-white pupils. Luke Rosiak’s book “Race To The Bottom” found that participants in radical race-based programs saw their test scores drop. Ethnicity-based math lessons have been trialed in West Coast states and promoted by the Oregon Department of Education. Still, even though the educational attainment of black students fell, it did not stop race-based education from advancing.
Oregon math teacher Muhammad Rahman, who believes math upholds “capitalist and imperialist” thinking, responded to low achievement, saying he would examine his teaching methods and ensure “I’m the best version of myself.”
To further manage the discrepancies, Oregon’s legislature passed laws allowing students to graduate without proficiency in math, reading, and writing due to high failure rates among minority students. Similarly, the school board in Vancouver, Washington, ended advanced math classes because too many white pupils were enrolled. They forced high achievers to take courses alongside low achievers in the name of “equity.”
