San Francisco State University recently put out a help wanted ad for a new math professor.<\/p>\n
The 1,447-word description<\/a> includes no information about the specific math skills the scholar will need to do the job.<\/p>\n Nearly the entire post is essentially dedicated to explaining that the position is for someone who knows how to teach math to black and Latino students using equitable and anti-racist methods.<\/p>\n The job is “part of a cohort hire focused on Black and Latinx\/e student success,” the ad states.<\/p>\n “We are looking for teacher\/scholars who have an established commitment to teaching, research and\/or service in and with the Black and Latinx\/e community. Candidates for this position are expected to satisfy two or more of the eight Black and Latinx\/e Student Success Cohort Hire criteria.”<\/p>\n The criteria are:<\/p>\n 1. Training in and knowledge of historical and present-day structural racism, and practice that engages that knowledge (practice may include teaching, research, and\/or service).<\/p>\n 2. Demonstrated knowledge of challenges and barriers for Black and Latinx\/e students, and evidence of strategies employed to help students overcome such barriers.<\/p>\n 3. Evidence of employing anti-racist teaching strategies that support the learning and success of Black and Latinx students.<\/p>\n 4. Mentors and engages Black and Latinx\/e students in research, scholarship, and creative activities.<\/p>\n 5. Evidence of research that contributes to equity, opportunities, and inclusion in higher education.<\/p>\n 6. Evidence of research that integrates understanding of and\/or engages Black and Latinx\/e communities\u2019 challenges and structural realities.<\/p>\n 7. Evidence of engaging in service to Black and Latinx\/e populations within the discipline.<\/p>\n 8. Evidence of service and contributions to Black and Latinx\/e communities.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n San Francisco State University’s job opening illustrates a troubling trend in higher education — the argument that math is racist. Or teaching math is racist. Or teaching math objectively is racist.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, for example, an education professor at a major mathematician meeting described<\/a> college math as \u201cwhite\u201d and \u201ccisheteropatriarchal.\u201d<\/p>\n Apparently the only way to tackle this “math is racist” problem is by hiring professors of color who know how to teach math equitably, as SFSU is trying to do.<\/p>\n What does teaching math equitably look like? As this infamous video<\/a> from 2013 showcasing the principles behind Common Core shows, 4 X 3 can equal 11.<\/p>\n The problem runs deep. More recently, asking students to “show their work,” for example, is “white supremacy,” according<\/a> to progressive scholars. Additional \u201ctoxic characteristics\u201d in math, according<\/a> to the “math is racist” crowd, include:<\/p>\n \u2022 The focus is on getting the \u201cright\u201d answer. In California, where SFSU is located, things are getting much worse, as college students who have taken dumbed-down classes cannot keep up with their peers who were actually taught real math along the way.<\/p>\n Nearly 1,800 California STEM professors recently signed on<\/a> to an \u201cOpen Letter on K-12 Mathematics” calling for more rigor. They are alarmed at the current proposal to dumb down math in the name of equity, a plan that would also disavow the concept of student giftedness because it allegedly creates \u201cinequities in mathematics education.\u201d<\/p>\n With meritocracy thrown out, advances in science, technology\u00a0 and medicine will suffer, perhaps irreparably. All in the name of equity.<\/p>\n MORE: Wake Forest University offers new \u2018antiracist use of math\u2019 class<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Independent practice is valued over teamwork or collaboration.
\n\u2022 \u201cReal-world math\u201d is valued over math in the real world.
\n\u2022 Students are tracked (into courses\/pathways and within the classroom).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n