A middle school teacher in Alabama has reportedly caused tension across
social media after a photo of a set of very disturbing exam questions made by
her went viral. The teacher set out a criminal/gangster themed Mathematics
exam, however going too far using sensitive themes of prostitution, race, drugs
and gangs, detrimental to those children sitting the exam. The Teacher used
stereotypes by using recognisable Latino and Black names, and associating them
within a connection to criminal activity. Hinting and exposing such content to
children and their young minds is destructive, as it can infect their
perceptions of race and also spark a development within their idea of racial
prejudice as they grow older.
It's ignorant people like this who are in power and woven through our education systems (amongst many other institutions) that enable racist ideologies to be perpetuated and teach children that this is the normal way of thinking. It's sad to hear that people like this can even be hired to teach our future generations.
ReplyDeleteThis can also been seen as an example of how name suppression, while certainly justified in some circumstances, is often granted to people caught out for racism. There are numerous incidents of racial misconduct by teachers and other professionals where, regardless of the repercussions they recieved by their employers, their names were ordered not to be made public. Name suppression can only occur if the potential detriment caused by an act becoming public knowledge could 'outweigh' the level of punishment suited to the crime. While it is fair in some cases, I don't think there should be any such tolerance with regard to racial discrimination. If you're a racist and you get caught out for it, then you're responsible for those actions and must face appropriate judgement for them. What better motivation to cut out the racial prejudices than being collectively scalded by the general public? We all want to be accepted by others, and if people like this teacher realized that people in general do not tolerate racism they'd certainly have an incentive to change their behavior.
ReplyDelete