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This document was also highlighted in the article, and to be honest, I'm having trouble identifying why anyone would call it "racist". It seems like a toolkit

by ketzo 6y ago

This document was also highlighted in the article, and to be honest, I'm having trouble identifying why anyone would call it "racist". It seems like a toolkit for identifying how seemingly innocuous ideas could support existing power structures in our society. Why should that be shunned?

incrudible 6y ago
Maybe it's the equivocation of "dominance" and "whiteness" in assertions like this: "Classrooms are often microcosms of the world around us and reinforce dominant (or white) ways of being." > It seems like a toolkit for identifying how seemingly innocuous ideas could support existing power structures in our society. Why should that be shunned? It lacks intellectual rigor and is unfalsifiable, yet the burden of proof rests on the accused. Perhaps the tools we use to teach math are suboptimal, but to assert that they are "racist" or "white" (in a harmful sense) is an extraordinary claim that needs extraordinary evidence. It should be possible to experimentally demonstrate that certain teaching methods improve the outcomes towards racial equity, then give recommendations based on those results. If this isn't possible, how could we achieve racial equity by making all these assertions, then requiring teachers to reflect upon them? Clearly, if the teachers are biased by white supremacy, all of their conclusions must be biased as well.
thu2111 6y ago
Innocuous ideas like "the focus is on getting the right answer" being the same thing as "white supremacy"? That "white supremacy culture" can show up when "expectations are not met" or when "teachers are teachers and students are learners"? The entire pamphlet is 100% crazy. I can't imagine how anyone could read this charitably, it's quite obviously the work of people who have totally lost their minds. The entire concept of labelling ordinary aspects of any imaginable education system as "white" is fundamentally racist.

by ketzo 6y ago

incrudible 6y ago

Maybe it's the equivocation of "dominance" and "whiteness" in assertions like this: "Classrooms are often microcosms of the world around us and reinforce dominant (or white) ways of being." > It seems like a toolkit for identifying how seemingly innocuous ideas could support existing power structures in our society. Why should that be shunned? It lacks intellectual rigor and is unfalsifiable, yet the burden of proof rests on the accused. Perhaps the tools we use to teach math are suboptimal, but to assert that they are "racist" or "white" (in a harmful sense) is an extraordinary claim that needs extraordinary evidence. It should be possible to experimentally demonstrate that certain teaching methods improve the outcomes towards racial equity, then give recommendations based on those results. If this isn't possible, how could we achieve racial equity by making all these assertions, then requiring teachers to reflect upon them? Clearly, if the teachers are biased by white supremacy, all of their conclusions must be biased as well.

thu2111 6y ago

Innocuous ideas like "the focus is on getting the right answer" being the same thing as "white supremacy"? That "white supremacy culture" can show up when "expectations are not met" or when "teachers are teachers and students are learners"? The entire pamphlet is 100% crazy. I can't imagine how anyone could read this charitably, it's quite obviously the work of people who have totally lost their minds. The entire concept of labelling ordinary aspects of any imaginable education system as "white" is fundamentally racist.