The wickedness afoot in Seattle public schools

As LITD noted earlier today, in the post about the doctor who got fired for refusing to use a transgender patient's preferred pronouns and the abortionist who offers mother-killers the opportunity to cuddle the corpses of the aborted kids, the Left wants us to value two things pretty much above all else: relativity and feelings. Nothing is fixed or absolute, they would have us believe, and how anything makes you feel is the most important aspect of whatever the thing is.

And, you see, if the thing in question - such as, say, some kind of "white Christian male power structure" - makes you feel "marginalized," well, then, we all have to have an "uncomfortable conversation" about it.

That's clearly the agenda behind this bit of civilization-destruction:

Seattle Public Schools . . . has offered a course for K-12 students titled “Math Ethnic Studies.” The framework for the class lists multiple themes, what students will learn from those themes, and important questions to be asked.

The first theme, “Origins, Identity, and Agency,” is defined as “the ways in which we view ourselves as mathematicians and members of broader mathematical communities.”

“Mathematical theory and application is rooted in the ancient histories of people and empires of color. All human endeavors include mathematical thinking; from humanities to the arts to the sciences,” the framework continues. 

 The “learning targets” for this theme start off without a hitch, suggesting students taking the class will be able to “identify ancient mathematicians and their contributions to mathematics” and “know the continents and countries that were and are at the core of the development of mathematics.” Math history doesn’t seem so bad.

But then the course starts to go off the rails. Under “essential questions” students are asked the following questions, among others:

“What is my mathematical identity”

“How does it feel to be a Mathematician”

“What other mathematicians are in my learning community?”

“Is there an authority for math knowledge?”

“What stories are important to your cultural connection to mathematics?”

“What does it mean to do math?”

“How important is it to be Right? What is Right? Says Who?”

Power and Oppression

Yes, Seattle has determined that such terms exist in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The theme is defined as “the ways in which individuals and groups define mathematical knowledge so as to see ‘Western’ mathematics as the only legitimate expression of mathematical identity and intelligence.”

“This definition of legitimacy is then used to disenfranchise people and communities of color. This erases the historical contributions of people and communities of color,” the framework continues.

The “learning targets” for this themes state that students will be able to “analyze the ways in which ancient mathematical knowledge has been appropriated by Western culture” and to identify and explain how math and other sciences have been “used to oppress and marginalize people and communities of color.”

Further, students will be able to “critique systems of power that deny access to mathematical knowledge to people and communities of color,” “identify the inherent inequities of the standardized testing system used to oppress and marginalize people and communities of color,” “explain how math has been used to exploit natural resources,” and “explain how math dictates economic oppression.”

A lengthy list of “essential questions” for this theme include the following:

“Who holds power in a mathematical classroom?”

“Is there a place for power and authority in the math classroom?”

“Who gets to say if an answer is right?”

“Who is Smart? Who is not Smart?”

“Can you recognize and name oppressive mathematical practices in your experience?”

“Why/how does data-driven processes prevent liberation?”

“How is math manipulated to allow inequality and oppression to persist?”

This is one of those cases that almost reads like a parody of what it is. One can easily imagine writers for a comedy show, or an astute opinion writer coming up with this when challenged to create a caricature of woke curriculum design.

Alas, it's for real. This passed through faculty committees and the administrative level of the school district.

How long before your district is spreading this poison?