So much of culture today is obsessed with the external characteristics of people—the things that make us different, such as gender and race. But this is not God’s way. He does not look at who we are on the outside, but rather who we are on the inside (1 Samuel 16:7). Galatians 3:28 affirms,
“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Christians should promote unity rather than division, but many today do just the opposite, setting one group against another.
According to Education Week, Seattle public schools are about to start implementing a “new” math curriculum that will analyze the so-called systems of oppression they claim are inherent to Western mathematics and which have limited the opportunities of people of color. As one organization explains, it is important for students to “understand the roles of power, privilege, and oppression in the history of mathematics education.”[1]
The curriculum focuses on the history of white oppression but not the “oppression” of mathematical knowledge by nonwhites. For instance, it is unlikely that there will be a section discussing the 1258 AD siege of Baghdad when the Mongols took the city and threw the books from the library (including math books) into the river so that it ran black with the ink of the books, and red with the blood of the scholars they murdered.[2] This ugly history is fact but it is not likely to be told because it does not fit the current narrative they want to indoctrinate in students.
Amazingly, an objective of this new course is to say that math itself—a fundamental and objectively neutral science—is racist. Some have even gone so far as to say that all data of all types is racist in nature and should be ignored because it relied on numbers from math (which is racist) to reach conclusions.[3]
This is part of a broader trend of seeing racism in all things. In fact, some even see it in seemingly unrelated things like professional dress. An article in The Root criticized an African-American principal for encouraging his students to dress up and wear bow ties to job interviews and “dress for the job [they] want,” because somehow, dressing up meant that African-Americans casual clothing was inferior, which therefore was racism.[4]
The problem with ascribing racism to everything is that it diminishes the effects of real racism and minimizes the experiences of those who even lost their lives to that evil. Should we really equate urging African-American students to dress professionally with the 4742 race-driven lynchings that occurred between 1882 and 1964.[5] Hardly!
We cannot pursue the Christian ideals of unity and cooperation when we are promoting division and ascribing maliciousness where none is meant. Proven science now tells us that,
“All races share 99.99+% of the same genetic materials, which means that a division of race is largely subjective.”[6]
Let’s get our attention off the subjective (what’s on the outside) and focus on what’s on the inside before they decide science is also a racist subject and we can’t use what it says.
Foundations of Truth hereby waives all claim of copyright (economic and moral) in this work and immediately places it in the public domain; it may be used, published, edited, and distributed in any manner whatsoever without any attribution or notice to Foundations of Truth.
[1] Catherine Gewertz, “Seattle Schools Lead Controversial Push to 'Rehumanize' Math,” Education Week (October 14, 2019), https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2019/10/11/seattle-schools-lead-controversial-push-to-rehumanize.html
[2] Ian Frazier, “Invaders,” New Yorker (April 25th, 2005), https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/04/25/invaders-3
[3] David French, “No, Math Isn’t Racist,” National Review (September 8th, 2016), https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/no-math-isnt-racist/
[4] The Root Staff, “What’s With the Fixation on Putting Black Boys in Ties?,” The Root (May 14th, 2014), https://www.theroot.com/what-s-with-the-fixation-on-putting-black-boys-in-ties-1790875660
[5] “History of Lynchings,” NAACP (n.d.), https://www.naacp.org/history-of-lynchings/
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