A college math professor at Brooklyn College by the name of Laurie Rubel tweeted that ‘the idea that math is objective or neutral IS A MYTH’. And math ‘reeks of White Supremacist patriarchy’. Now, I’m no hot-shot university professor, or a teacher of…anything. But I’ll take a shot at this.
Math, in all its forms, is as basic an exchange of imperial facts as possible. Pure observation is all that is needed, first to count items, then to add, subtract, multiply, or divide them. Of course, that implies a common numerical system—Arabic numbers, for example. The entire world uses Arabic numbers for a reason—not because they are from an inferior or superior culture, but because they WORK. Base 10 numbering systems have been used by virtually EVERYONE for the last several centuries (IT folks use binary and hexadecimal numbering schemes due to the limits of computer language and hardware, but we’ll leave them out of this discussion). Case in point: money. Accounting systems worldwide, regardless of currency used, employ Arabic numbers to provide a commonality for all to see. Note that this methodology was not forced upon anyone. Maybe in near-prehistoric times, ‘men’ forced this upon ‘women’, but likely it was simply agreed upon. Also note that Arabic numbers had very little to do with White people.
But once a numeric system is agreed upon, mathematics is a rigorously objective discipline. Since we have such consistency, basic math has evolved into the many less-basic endeavors: Algebra, Trigonometry, Calculus, Accounting, Physics, Astronomy, Engineering, and any other fields expressed numerically. They all have one thing in common: applying the correct formula to the same set of data yields a single correct answer. And, depending upon the precision required, you may wind up with an answer more accurate than whole numbers: 2.613, 12.2354, etc. Also note that mastery of any of these fields is completely agnostic to the social makeup of the person performing the math. Race, sex, color, height, religion—none of these attributes plays any role in this process whatsoever. Either you arrive at the correct answer, or you are wrong.
Maybe Dr. or Ms. Rubel is fighting a different battle, as she states “I’d rather think on nurturing people’. This sounds like she is unhappy marking answers as incorrect, as that doesn’t ‘nurture’. Here is my take on Dr. Rubel:
1. Fire her immediately
2. Encourage her to take up a discipline that allows for ‘nurturing’. Teaching Math simply is not it. Unfortunately for your nurturing soul, it contains correct and incorrect answers, not ‘feelings’.
3. No matter how ‘nice’ you think you are, rewarding incorrect answers is criminally wrong for a ‘teacher’. ‘Teach’ them how to arrive at the correct answers, not accept errors as ‘close enough’. You are doing your students a TREMENDOUS disservice by letting them think incorrect answers work anywhere in the real world.
4. There is nothing so racist as the lower expectations of cultures other than yours. Stop this nonsense–expect more from everyone.
5. Maybe this whole thing is your desire to pass failing students to cover up your failure as a teacher. See 3. If you can’t do that, try some other teaching career path, one that is far more subjective. Perhaps one of the many ‘Studies’ programs is more to your ‘nurturing’ liking. That way, you can give partial or even complete credit for wrong answers to poor students that do not match your culture. I certainly hope whatever field you go into ‘teaching’, the students do no harm to others with wrong answers.
