Math textbook political correctness, gone 10 2/3 times overboard

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

It's a math textbook. How much could they really change.

Originally Posted by MJ4H

clearly they have to update it to the new math

You joke but there really is such a thing. You should hear my wife's mom talk about it. She's a high level high school math teacher (think ap calc, dominating math team, etc) and really blasts some of the "new math" that's coming down the pipes. Basically, it's cutesy ways of teaching basic functions and algebra that leaves us badly behind the rest of the world.

SI

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

You joke but there really is such a thing. You should hear my wife's mom talk about it. She's a high level high school math teacher (think ap calc, dominating math team, etc) and really blasts some of the "new math" that's coming down the pipes. Basically, it's cutesy ways of teaching basic functions and algebra that leaves us badly behind the rest of the world.

SI

New Math. I went to back to school night Monday, and was able to thank my 3rd grade daughter's teacher "Thank you for going over the curriculum. I think it is fantastic that you are actually going to teach the children math."

Last year I pissed off my daughter's second grade teacher by telling her that she wasn't teaching math. Rather she was teaching them to count using this screwed up thing called touch math. I might have railed about it here... My blood pressure will raise if I actually try to explain it here. So this year I got to tell the teacher that I'm happy. She is actually having do daily timed addition and multiplication tests.

So I went to back to school night, and I didn't tell the teacher that she was lazy, nor did my wife have to usher me away from the teacher and the crowd of parents gathering around to watch the show.

[Raiders Army]

"Joe and Steve were planning their wedding in California and lived in Minnesota. They were each bringing fifteen guests. Six of the total guests lived in California. How many people had to travel to California?"


What's the question kids are gonna ask here?





















"Mom, why are Joe and Steve getting married when they're Asian and White?"

[Autumn]

I think someone hit it on the head a couple pages back, saying that it's more important to expose the majority to the minority than vice versa (not to mention that minorities will soon be the majority in the U.S.).

The number of multicultural mentions in things like textbooks and commercials are going to have to exceed their actual numbers if we are to do so. It often strikes me how nonrepresentative ads and commercials are which always feature a white, a black and an Asian. But it seems the reasonable solution to the issue of including more people.

[astrosfan64]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

"Joe and Steve were planning their wedding in California and lived in Minnesota. They were each bringing fifteen guests. Six of the total guests lived in California. How many people had to travel to California?"


What's the question kids are gonna ask here?





















"Mom, why are Joe and Steve getting married when they're Asian and White?"

LOL

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

"Joe and Steve were planning their wedding in California and lived in Minnesota. They were each bringing fifteen guests. Six of the total guests lived in California. How many people had to travel to California?"


What's the question kids are gonna ask here?




















"Mom, why are Joe and Steve getting married when they're Asian and White?"

Not sure about your kids, but mine would ask why two men are getting married.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by RomaGoth

Not sure about your kids, but mine would ask why two men are getting married.

*woosh* That was the sound of a joke going over one's head

(a sound I know so very well)

SI

[SteveMax58]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

"Mom, why are Joe and Steve getting married when they're Asian and White?"

And the no-brainer response is:

"Don't be silly kids, Joe is a tribesman from Africa...not white."

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

*woosh* That was the sound of a joke going over one's head

(a sound I know so very well)

SI

Yeah I got the joke, I was just making a rather noticeable attempt at another joke. Sad, I know. Oh well, perhaps next time.....

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by Logan

I can't believe no one brought this up. Have any of you fuckers been to college recently?

The crime here is that these pricks "update" textbooks every year just to make cosmetic changes, change numbers around, and update charts, which means you can't buy used copies of old editions for $20. Instead, you're stuck buying the brand new, $140 edition because the teacher is using the new one and making references to it.

Funny you mention this. I just spent almost $400 on textbooks for this fall semester (senior year). This is just another racket going on that nobody wants to admit to or talk about. They are definitely "pricks" in my opinion.

[CU Tiger]

Damn....Takara and Sukey beat out Tyrone and Dashiqui again....just another case of them yellas holding us down....

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by lurker

Clever. That's exactly the same point I was making by mentioning I'm Asian. It's not at all that lots of people implied only racist white people would have a problem with these inclusions.

I kinda thought a couple of the early posters also really unfairly ripped panerd as well, without, IMO, anywhere near the evidence they thought they had. One of them even admitted later on he didn't have access to those sorts of numbers, and but that unfortunately didn't lead him to apologize to panerd at least by the point at which I am responding here.

And before everyone leaps on the popular "Chief must be racist" card, my best friend is Asian, I count many Asians and Latinos among my best friends, and I have grown up among them and other racial groups my whole life (being from California).

The only group to which I feel I need more exposure is African-American (and despite that, no problems there either).

[JPhillips]

I'm assuming you're talking about me and if so, I'd recommend post #28. I still find his general tone about Asians to be offensive, but if he wants to incorporate a more integrated multiculturalism I'm all for it.

If that's what you're advocating, I missed it. I'd agree with you that adding real cultural references would be better. If that's your intention, I apologize.

The numbers issue doesn't really relate to the specific issue of Panerd's comments at all. It was a response to a theoretical posed by SI.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

I'm assuming you're talking about me and if so, I'd recommend post #28. I still find his general tone about Asians to be offensive, but if he wants to incorporate a more integrated multiculturalism I'm all for it.



The numbers issue doesn't really relate to the specific issue of Panerd's comments at all. It was a response to a theoretical posed by SI.

Sorry, JPhillips, but I am not going to name names. I just felt some people were over the top, and perhaps, they should consider giving an unqualified apology. But that's up to them.

[stevew]

Wait a second, the real question is why the fuck are kids going to school in mid august? That's like some communist bullshit. It's harvest season, dammit. Send them out to work on the farm for a couple more weeks.

Civilized kids should only be learning about Sukey and Takara after labor day.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Sorry, JPhillips, but I am not going to name names. I just felt some people were over the top, and perhaps, they should consider giving an unqualified apology. But that's up to them.

I don't think any apology is neccessary, though I appreciate your posts. I just don't understand how me complaining about the cosmetic and supericial changes being made to a textbook became me being a racist. It's not that I even care being labeled as such or feel the need to defend myself if I am, but when I made the original post it was the last thing I ever expected to happen.

(On the other hand I also felt like it might be a no reply thread, not a 115+ one!)

[Bonegavel]

What if Barbara and Susan were Asian Americans and Sukey and Tatanka were displaced WASPs in Japan? Could so happen.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by panerd

[...] when I made the original post it was the last thing I ever expected to happen.

Been on the internet long, buddy?

[TCY Junkie]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Been on the internet long, buddy?

+1

[Crim]

Originally Posted by TCY Junkie

+1

You can stop sucking Pumpy's dick anytime, now, Junkie.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by Drake

Actually, cuervo, this makes perfect sense to me from a multi-national perspective. We know there's a huge market for English language instruction around the world (especially in China right now). If I'm a publishing company, having one edition (i.e., one set of printing costs) that is broadly multi-cultural is much better than having a Chinese edition, an Argentinian edition, etc. You get to market it as English language math instruction with cultural hooks that kids in your country can latch onto.

I could very easily see a shift like this being much more about multi-national marketing than multi-culturism. And if that really is the philosophy behind it, that's actually a pretty clever move (i.e., minimal cost, more markets).

Not a bad angle. I wouldn't normally think about an international market for a math book written in English, but I can buy that. Of course at the same time there's probably a need for Spanish language math texts in the United States...

[TCY Junkie]

Originally Posted by Crim

You can stop sucking Pumpy's dick anytime, now, Junkie.

Ok Crim, it is your turn. And I was thinking of putting you on my buddy list the other day. I will rectify that by doing so, what a strange name for a girl.

[Crim]

You crack me up.








And, yes, by all means, let me have a go at it, I've been patient enough.

[TCY Junkie]

Originally Posted by Crim

You crack me up.

Just cause we're buddies dosen't mean I have a specific quanity available at all times, well if you consider 0 a quanity than I do.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by stevew

Wait a second, the real question is why the fuck are kids going to school in mid august? That's like some communist bullshit. It's harvest season, dammit. Send them out to work on the farm for a couple more weeks.

I agree 100% on the school should start in September. I swear, school just keeps starting earlier and earlier every year.

Civilized kids should only be learning about Sukey and Takara after labor day.

So, wait, what you're advocating is "no whites after Labor day"? (oh, yeah, I went there! and I'm almost proud of that bad pun)

SI

[molson]

Originally Posted by Logan

The crime here is that these pricks "update" textbooks every year just to make cosmetic changes, change numbers around, and update charts, which means you can't buy used copies of old editions for $20. Instead, you're stuck buying the brand new, $140 edition because the teacher is using the new one and making references to it.

Almost every professor I had in college in then law school were extremely sympathetic to this. A lot of times there'd be notes on the syllabus highlighting the differences between editions, and where you could find the info in the gap if you went with the older book.

My law school professors would ususally say, "the assignment is pages 1-100, if you have last year's casebook, just lookup case X on Westlaw and you'll be caught up".