Mom Says Math Homework is Racist
Categories: Teens & tweens, In The News, Weird But True, Education, Bullying
A middle-school math teacher is in the hot seat for including an image of a toothless black man on a homework sheet, and at least one parent is calling the illustration racist.
The Courier Times in Bucks County, Pa., reports that the African-American parent of an eighth-grader at Lenape Middle School was so distressed over the image of a black, toothless man on her son's math homework that she kept the boy home from school the following day.
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"I couldn't understand what I was looking at," says the woman, whose identity was not revealed by the newspaper. The work sheet, titled "Solving Equations using Multiplication and Division!," featured a photo of a black man in a straw hat and a shirt and suspenders, his mostly toothless mouth agape. Underneath the picture is the grammatically incorrect phrase, "NO WAI!!!"
School district spokeswoman Karen Smith says that teacher Matthew Curran often uses photos and cartoons on his worksheets, and sent an e-mail to the Courier including a statement from Curran."I chose it because it said 'no way,' which is a comment my students make when I require them to show each calculation," he writes in an e-mail. "I had no idea that I might offend anyone. I am very sorry for any distress that this has caused my students and the community." Curran claims that he found the image through a Google search for "multiply and divide."
The student's mother was not only distressed by the image, but also by reports of what happened to her son when his classmates saw the work sheet. The boy is the only African-American student in the pre-algebra class, and he says he was teased by other students.
"One of the kids in the classroom turned around and said, 'Is that your father?,' " she tells the Courier. "We are highly insulted and offended. We sent him to school to learn pre-algebra. He should be protected from this stuff, not have it thrown in his face ... He gets enough (racial slurs) and negativity from the kids. To have the teacher encourage it?"
The boy's family met with NAACP Bucks County President John Jordan, and released a written statement about the incident, the Courier reports.
"It brings into question whether all of our children are being provided a safe and fair environment in which to learn. What happened here is unacceptable, and we will take steps to make sure it never happens again," the statement reads.
According to the NAACP, several other students expressed their concerns about the picture, but the teacher told the kids to keep working, says the boy's mom. She did, however, ask her own son why he didn't leave the classroom. "He said, 'Mommy, I'm in school.' He knows the rules. He has to follow the rules," she tells the Courier. "He's trying to get on the honor roll right now."
Nick Chubb, Lenape Middle School principal, declined to comment but did tell the newspaper that administrators are investigating the matter. In the meantime, the boy's mother is keeping her child home until the situation is resolved.
"Racism is usually so subtle. To have it so blatant is what is so shocking," she says. "Hopefully, we can all learn from this and move forward in a positive way -- for everyone, not just the black kids or the Hispanic kids or the Jewish kids or the other subgroups ... We need some peace and understanding. I don't want hate."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 25)
REBA 11-19-2009 @ 4:18PM
This is ridiculous!! Everyone has seen that picture online or in an email. The only people encouraging racism is the "subgroups" as this lady puts it. What ever happened to having fun. Enjoying life? Why make an issue out of every little thing? Some people just need to get a life!
Reply
lizzy 11-19-2009 @ 6:34PM
Are you a subgroup or are you of the majority??
Kim 11-20-2009 @ 4:51PM
Had it been a white man with no teeth in a straw hat and suspenders, there would not have been any complaints.
kz dallas 11-21-2009 @ 8:14PM
The world has gone crazy! Every little thing is perceived as racist. I grew up in Appalachia where there are many toothless, WHITE people and their faces -- pictures, not even just drawings -- have been plastered around the world for decades. Don't you think maybe they feel a little insulted at times? What shall we call it -- being Redneck-ist???
Lanette 11-21-2009 @ 8:41PM
"Subgroup"? is that what "we" are now?
WTF??
jp 11-21-2009 @ 8:54PM
I agree Reba. I am a Native American, an EXTREMELY small "group" of people. People should learn to have a sense of humor. Things are only offensive if you let them be. Maybe, if the child's mother had approached the teacher about this, the incident could have been used as a teachable moment. Instead, this whole thing has been blown out of proportion, and if the child felt embarassed before, imagine how it will be now. Everyone in this child's county probably knows who he is.
john 11-21-2009 @ 9:34PM
Ever wonder why offensive images of white people are never used?
joanne 11-21-2009 @ 9:44PM
I think she is overreacting about the photo - but based on her comment "He gets enough (racial slurs) and negativity from the kids.", things have been building up for a while and this just broke the camel's back so to speak (apologies to anyone offended by the camel term)... Way too much political correctness in this country - but unfortunately, still too many people - both black and white - who feel and act negatively towards people different than themselves. Pretty sad in this day and age.
cheryl 11-21-2009 @ 9:50PM
I agree with you totally. And I do not believe the other students said that to him because he was African American if they said it to him at all. Kids can be cruel and say stuff to kids they don't like but from what I have seen kids are the most nonracist and tolerant of other's lifestyles than ever,
john 11-21-2009 @ 9:56PM
The issue is that this young man was singled out, in an incredibly insensitive way, over the issue of his race. Had it been a woman protrayed in a comparable way, would that be considered sexist, and damaging to the self-esteem of the girls in the room?
bobbie 11-21-2009 @ 10:31PM
Interesting that the mother is proud of her son because he "...he knows the rules. He has to follow the rules." But now she's keeping him at home, denying him the education she says is so important, until she's satisfied with the outcome of this tempest in a teapot. This could have been handled with a face-to-face with the teacher, but some people (of both races) just need to get their 15 minutes of fame. She's teaching her son a very negative lesson, and the way kids are. She's also making sure her son will be the target of every bully in the school when he returns.
The comment the other student made was nasty; and may indicate what he's being taught at home. I fail to see how that involves the school or the NAACP, though. Kids have always been cruel. If the picture would have been of a toothless white man, that kid would have probably picked another target in the classroom and asked the same question.
seriously 12-06-2009 @ 1:46AM
This kid better go to math class and get good grades if he wants to succeed in America. I hope his mother is paying just as much attention to his academic performance, respect for teachers, and manners as she is to "racism". Why do some people play the race card whenever they can? They are hypersensitive, so the rest of us are racist? I just don't get it.
me 11-21-2009 @ 11:06PM
I completely agree. Maybe next time a white person is shown in just about any situation other than perfect, ill throw a big fuss.
people overreact. can you say reverse discrimination much?
sherri 11-21-2009 @ 11:11PM
Very well said ! I'm the type of person who will be the first to speak out on something if I find it to be racist, inappropriate, etc. But this picture is nothing more than humerous regardless of what ethnic it would still be funny, its more about the expression than the color. So to you people who only see black or white GET A LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Emmy 11-21-2009 @ 11:25PM
Of course, have fun at the expense of others, so long as you are not the butt of the joke. Insensitive people like you are what's wrong with our society. Fun is no longer fun when it hurts other people and hopefully you are a young person who is yet to learn that about life but if you are already an older person, let's just say too bad because you fell through the cracks and will never know any better.
Phil 11-21-2009 @ 11:25PM
I am not sure how old this teacher is who was so unenlightened to it's racial depiction, but this picture is blatantly racist. It seams to me that not only should an apology be made to all of the students but some serious diversity sensitivity training is warranted so that this and other teachers don't repeat this mistake in the future. I find it very difficult to believe any adult and even most children would not have seen the depiction as anything but offensive to African Americans.
gsxrgirl 11-21-2009 @ 11:46PM
I in no way find this to be racist its a funny picture in my eyes maybe not to be used on a homework page with the word way misspelled. but if this "mom" finds pictures of african americans to be racist then she needs to close her eyes because there are pictures of whites blacks and everything in between. she needs to get over it and see the humor offered in life if it was a white man with his mouth wide open with no teeth I would laugh my butt off just as I have just got done doing.
Sean 11-21-2009 @ 11:57PM
Get the F'"k over it, thats the problem with this society, too many people looking for racism. What about the black women who assaulted a police officer at a Walmart, If that would have been a white women or better yet a white man, jail time would have been certain. Well listen up, Slavery was over along time ago, and there isnt one black person in the United States who is a slave or has been a slave so guess what? No one owes any person of color Shit! If you want to scream racism, what about all the Jew, Hitler Killed, all the people Stalin Killed, or all the Indians that where murdered. Should the white man owe them as well
BOB 11-22-2009 @ 12:00AM
OH WHY DON'T ALL YOU ETHNIC, WHAT YOU CALL YOURSELVES MINORITIES,GIVE IT UP HUH? EVERY LITTLE THING THAT CAN BE MISCONSTRUED TO GUIDE YOU DOWN THE PATH OF DISCRIMINATING LEADS YOU TO THE BEST PLACE YOU CAN FIND..SUING SOMEONE..PLEASE..ACT LIKE THE REST OF US CUT IT OUT ONCE AND FOR ALL..
Tami 11-22-2009 @ 12:04AM
WIth all the children starving in America. All the children being kidnapped, raped, thrown into sex rings and murdered. All the unemployment lines. All the people struggling to survive the depression....this woman is complaining about a picture of a toothless man? People never cease to amaze me. There are pictures out there everywhere of all races like this. Some are serious. Some are jokes. GET OVER YOURSELF WOMAN. Homeschool your child if you dont like the free education he/she receives. OH you probably only speak ebonics and that is why you wouldnt be able to teach.