Like it or not the culture war is coming for us all. American history is under attack. The Howard Zinn ethos has made inroads into classrooms. There is a war on history which is a conspiracy to rewrite America’s past. But, it does not end there.
The social justice dogma infecting the liberal arts is now going STEM. There is a story out of Seattle showing how social justice warriors are sparing not effort. They are bent on succeeding in their effort to fundamentally transform America.
Example
Seattle Public Schools recently proposed adding ethnic studies into K-12 math curriculum. They have gone straight past “new math” to “woke math.” The framework for this curriculum exposes the absurdity of woke math. The framework for the curriculum states “Western” mathematics as “the only legitimate expression of mathematical identity and intelligence.” Do you understand what that means? It asserts the use of mathematics is to “disenfranchise people and communities of color.”
Robby Soave at Reason points out how empty and hollow the guidelines are:
“It’s chock full of social justice jargon that sounds smart but is actually vapid. What does it mean to decode mathematical ‘beauty’ or ‘identify how the development of mathematics has been erased from learning in school?’ (Has it been erased? That seems like a problem for history class.)
The guidance says it will ‘re-humanize mathematics through experiential learning’ and facilitate learning ‘independently and interdependently.’ That’s a fancy way of saying almost nothing at all.”
Results matter
This sort of curriculum will leave students with little knowledge or understanding of how to do math. It serves one purpose: to radicalize young people. It uses tales of oppression in grooming them to be future social justice warriors.
Among the other lessons the guidelines suggest are to:
Explain how math dictates economic oppression,
Identify economic movements that have led to liberation, and
Ask the question; How can we change mathematics from individualistic to collectivist thinking?
The message is empowerment comes through social protest and community organizing. Empowerment does not come from cultivating useful knowledge and abilities. Is that really what we want to be teaching our children? Do you know if that is what we are doing today? Like it or not the culture war is coming for us all.
The larger agenda
Woke math is the latest expression of a larger agenda to turn young Americans against their country. That agenda aims to turn our children against their fellow citizens. It aims to fill them with grievance. The agenda aims to convince them that their key to a perfect future is through socialism. The pat to a better future does not run through increasing ignorance and intolerance. Isn’t it time to reclaim the educational agenda?
It will be a challenge to build a green socialist utopia of high-speed rail without basic math. Engineering skills too are mere details. The situation in Seattle shows why policies like school choice are so important. Parents need tools to pressure their local public schools if they are failing to educate students. If our public schools are trying to indoctrinate their children with ideas they oppose; that is all the more reason for involvement.
Conclusion
Many of America’s institutions are now trickling down. K-12 is being used to un-assimilate Americans. Education is being used to boil down every issue in life to cleavages in ethnic identity. It is no longer acceptable to attribute differences of opinion in a complex world to any other source.
We are teaching intolerance which will lead to violence. Today even math is getting swept up in the cultural moment. It’s a warning: There is no escape, even behind the hard realities of numbers and science. Like it or not the culture war is coming for us all.