51 Replies to “Black Men Can’t Cipher”

  4. Reading the article, I find myself agreeing with him.
    This is not ( – or should not be – ) a “Black discrimination” issue, really; Whites and Hispanics do better at the tests than Blacks, but the stuff they’re being tested-on is not required by any of them, for virtually anything they may be seeking to major-in except Engineering. So his point as I gather it, is “Why is ANYBODY routinely tested on this? Find out who’ll need it for their majors, and stop subjecting everybody else to the tests!”
    I find it indicative that they did not reveal the Asian students’ scores in the standard tests – bet they humiliated everybody else…

  5. “What we’re saying is we want as rigorous a course as possible to determine a student’s ability to succeed, but it should be relevant to their course of study.” That justification is profoundly hypocritical since SJWs insist their political ideology must pollute every area of STEM education. It’s also telling that he suggests replacing algebra with statistics. “Lies, damned lies, and statistics “. I assume this is because statistics can be twisted and manipulated to create any desired outcome, just like post modernism, intersectionality, and the rest of the incomprehensible swamp in humanities and social science.

  6. regarding ‘black issues’ *and* the environment, I have tremendous news folks, Ive FOUND THE ANSWER to rising ocean levels. here’s what we do:
    given that Ahfricah is a complete 3rd world shythole, we pick the anus of the shythole, namely zimbabwe, and using thermo nukes as suggested by the physicist Edward Teller, ‘father of the hydrogen bomb’, enormous earth movers and millions of labourers, we dig a gigantic 8,000 foot hole in the continent the size of the country. then, dig a trench to the Indian Ocean, and just let all the excess water drain into the hole !! with proper engineering, we can even, get this, CONTROL ocean levels by putting a gate in front of the trench !!!

  8. I agree. Get rid of it if it is not central to what they need. I know some extremely smart people — wonderful abstract thinking, most definitely big picture and with outstanding verbal skills . . . and they do not do math particularly well. Students should be focused on skills that are relevant to their life work. In high school it is good discipline to be introduced to these things, but not needed in a college environment unless needed for the field they are studying.

  9. This isn’t a race issue. It’s not a university standards issue. It’s a public secondary school issue. Many of them are failing at educating their students. And that failure is almost entirely the fault of the teachers unions. But heaven forbid the lefty author above would ever criticize the union.

  10. – But don’t eliminate “Gender Equality Studies”, “Social Social-Justice Justice”, “Why All White Men Are Privileged And Evil”, “Radical Feminism 101” etc etc etc, of course!
    Is it gauche to reply to a reply to your earlier post? I’m white male so I guess, yes it is; reporting for sensitivity training… 😉

  11. “Algebra Is a ‘Civil Rights’ Issue. Get Rid Of It.”
    That bumping noise you hear is Frederick Douglass and George Washington Carver rolling in their graves.

  12. Not long ago, for a personal project, I took Introductory Algebra, Intermediate Algebra, College Algebra, and Precalculus, all at college level online and I did it in a month while working full time while collecting Old Age Pension. I hadn’t looked at math since my 20s and rarely used it at work. At work I add and subtract and rarely show off by multiplying and dividing. If you can’t pass first year college algebra, get yourself some flippers and go clean clogs at the sewage treatment plant.

  13. Albert Einstein failed high school math but that didn’t prevent him from later formulating the theories of Special and General Relativity.
    Algebra and Calculus for that matter, don’t care what colour your skin is; use your God given contents of your cranium.
    Oh math is hard, boo hoo! I stayed up long nights till 3AM trying to master math and physics concepts until I had my degree in hand.
    Perhaps, we should water down engineering too and watch as commuters drive to their deaths as the faulty designed bridges collapse!
    Cheers
    Hans Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
    1st Saint Nicolaas Army
    Army Group ‘True North’

  14. I am not sure, but do engineers even take algebra in Canada, the assumption being that you learned enough in high school? Back when I took calculus in a business program, I thought it was tough but made it through. I took 5 math/mathish courses in business based on the assumption that I already knew enough algebra. Can you even take algebra at a Canadian university at a level beyond high school?

  15. So … African-American college students in CA have to be given “remedial” Algebra instruction in COLLEGE … wow ! Might I suggest home schooling your African-American children at home … using the Kahn Academy.
    https://www.khan academy.org/math/cc-fifth-grade-math
    At the Kahn Academy … your natty-headed little kids will be introduced to Algebra in the 5th grade. 8-years before they hit Community College. Kahn will begin teaching your little girls remedial Algebra before they even start wearing the Muslim headscarf!
    Basic algebra … even algebra II is one of the MOST fundamental constructs of human knowledge. Unless, of course … you believe that knowledge is “racist”

  16. There is also a math program called ALEKS in which you do hundreds, if not thousands, of problems per course for $20 US per month. Their college level course are accepted at many US schools but likely no Canadian ones. It is simply repetition.
    https://www.aleks.com/

  18. “But don’t eliminate “Gender Equality Studies”, “Social Social-Justice Justice”, “Why All White Men Are Privileged And Evil”, “Radical Feminism 101″ etc etc etc, of course!”
    I am not defending those courses. I am just suggesting that what is taught should be relevant to the course of study — and not simply a hoop to jump through. I am also saying that not everyone is good at math — some very smart people struggle with it. Their brains simply function differently and sometimes having a particularly strong capacity for one type of thinking makes it difficult for you to do another type of thinking. Someone mentioned Einstein flunking math — that is an excellent example. His capacity for abstraction and I believe spacial thinking was extraordinary, which probably made him less capable in areas involving detailed, linear thinking. You may also notice that the Chinese excel at math and detail. Often they are less able in areas involving visual-spacial thinking.

  19. If they want to get an A+ in Algebra, try something novel like doing every problem in the book beyond the ones the prof assigns in class.
    When they get to Calculus they’ll be doing derivatives and integrals in their sleep and one will have actually learned something.
    There is nothing like doing the hard work and the satisfaction of accomplishment.
    My son did his physics degree and kept a reminder on his laptop screen…”DO YOUR WORK!”
    Algebra and Calculus are not hard, with practice… Being CONSISTENTLY DISCIPLINED to do your work from SELF MOTIVATION will get you the mastery of mathematics. Being innately curious also helps a great deal.
    Cheers
    Hans Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
    1st Saint Nicolaas Army
    Army Group ‘True North’

  20. Math is exercise for the brain, whether you use advanced math in life is irrelevant. What is relevant is the synaptic connections that are made while learning and you will use your brain so give it lots of challenging exercise. Synaptic connections are like putting marbles in a bag (the more the better) because in our autumn years we are going to lose some marbles.
    If someone says “I don’t get it”, great. Stay at it until you do, there is nothing more satisfying then that “aha” moment.

  21. California State University is finalizing new system-wide math policies as part of an initiative to increase graduation rates and address equity gaps
    The worst part of this statement is the “increase graduation rates”. What they meant to say is “increase graduation rates for … the uneducated and unqualified”. This all started when some RACIST idgiot insisted that the SAT is “culturally biased”. And it has been continued in Common Core … which is ALL ABOUT a fundamental change in “interpreting” how and what a child has learned. It has made Grading-students a completely subjective exercise based upon a convoluted methodology written into Common Core. Common Core is nothing less than the institutionalized “dumbing-down” of American schools. Trust me … my wife teaches the children of crack-ho’s in Oakland. She is obligated to “interpret” their scholarship … rather than just check whether they got the correct answer or not. She has been instructed on how to “increase the graduation rates” with the aid of Common Core.
    What did you expect when Jimmy Carter created a centralized, nationalized, bureau of “Education” ? Did you expect the Dept. of Education to serve the intellectual “elites” … or the dumb-ass masses?
    It is getting harder and harder to argue against Corporations insisting on MORE H1b Visas. America’s educational institutions are FAILING … ‘F’

  22. Are the oceans rising or is the land sinking?
    25yrs ago while I was enrolled at the local learnatorium studying civil engineering we tested specific gravity of different soils, turns out dirt is heavier than water. The entire earth’s crust floats on a layer of molten rock, I’m surprised the continents aren’t sinking faster.
    Your solution will certainly work, we could also dredge up a few islands like the Chinese.

  24. Thanks, WalterF for the link.
    It seems that most of the commenters to the article do a pretty good job of taking it apart.

  25. The other ridiculous presumption is that a thorough understanding of what used to be senior level high school algebra is not required for understanding statistics. This is a part of the reason why statistics are very often interpreted incorrectly. When I see the words, “linked to”, this often means that someone found a positive regression coefficient, without understanding the interactions with sample size or properly controlling for other variables.

  26. It’s your issue – schools are not autonomous, they are governed by local, democratically-elected school boards and by a mess of often conflicting state and federal laws. Do you vote in your local school board elections, or do you just complain?
    Further, most state forbid collective bargaining by teachers; thus, no unionization.
    No true American lives his life or judges others based on a few limited sources.

  27. I am not sure, but do engineers even take algebra in Canada, the assumption being that you learned enough in high school?
    I never had to take a specific algebra course when I was an undergrad in mechanical engineering more than 40 years ago. It was assumed that one knew enough to be able to handle problems in plane geometry and calculus.
    Linear algebra, however, was another matter…..

  28. I wonder if the undermining of effective math education in K-12 has led to math/science phobia and shouts of racist math (you hate what you fear) and has this had a direct impact on the way non-STEMs develop arguments. Perhaps it explains their automatic appeals to authority and consensus when confronted by skeptics who are comfortable with math and science. They assume that the skeptics are as ignorant as they are and everyone should therefore defer to “experts” rather than seek to understand the concepts, question data, ask for clarification. Kind of similar to using Latin so the peasants don’t ask The Church inconvenient questions or limit education altogether. Old religions prefer their followers illiterate, the new religion wants them innumerate.

  29. That is why math is so important at the primary and secondary levels of education. Most of what students learn at those lower levels should focus on brain development — but mostly it does not.

  30. What you said about Einstein is ridiculous. “Someone mentioned Einstein flunking math — that is an excellent example. His capacity for abstraction and I believe spacial (sic) thinking was extraordinary, which probably made him less capable in areas involving detailed, linear thinking.”
    Einstein was the greatest physicist in the twentieth century. He was not just an “abstract thinker.” The minimal representation of his theory involves four dimensional differential equations. The general theory of relativity requires knowledge of tensor algebra, which is to high school algebra as Shakespeare is to a child learning to spell d-o-g. Your supposition that he is “less capable” in any areas involving mathematics is just absurd.
    Also, re “You may also notice that the Chinese excel at math and detail. Often they are less able in areas involving visual-spacial (sic) thinking.” The two are not mutually exclusive. And what evidence do you have that Chinese are “less able” blah blah blah? I guess you think the creation of video games do not require visual-spatial thinking? Wrong! And “math” isn’t just about detail. It is the language of science and engineering. Learning “algebra” (in the sense that most laymen know) is just the first step, like learning the alphabet is to literature.
    Lastly, a general comment directed at the article and not at you. What is shown on the boar is hardly “intermediate algebra” material. It is integral equations. That shows the ignorance of the subject of the author.

  32. “that he is “less capable” in any areas involving mathematics is just absurd.” That is not what I said. Reread my statement . . . and maybe Einstein is not a good example, however my point holds that different people have different mental strengths and there is research to verify that sometimes those different modes of thinking are reflected broadly in racial-cultural profiles. My own theory about why Asians excel at detail is that they are exposed to it at a very early age (e.g. memorizing Asian characters needed for reading). Some cultures favour certain ways of perceiving the world and that would be broadly reflected in populations. That does not mean some (even many) do not conform to those stereotypes, but patterns nevertheless exist. Geniuses of course often function well in many realms (but sometimes not). Normal people often have some particular strength and that frequently is accompanied by also having some particular weakness. (I’m good at this, but I am terrible at that — different ways of thinking.) I don’t even think this is controversial.

  33. “Kind of similar to using Latin so the peasants don’t ask The Church inconvenient questions or limit education altogether.”
    Your statement qualifies as a canard of epic proportions. The Church used Latin for two reasons only:
    1. It was the “lingua franca” of the Western Roman Empire (and later, Medieval Europe) and, far from limiting education, it was the common language of education, ensuring that (for example) Spanish scientists could speak to German ones. Even after the Reformation, research was still published in Latin; when Newton – a Protestant – published “Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica”, he published it in Latin so that anyone in Europe could read it.
    2. It ensured doctrinal uniformity.* No matter where you were in Catholic Christendom, you used the same authorized biblical text in the same language. This in no way prevented local clergy from preaching the scriptural message in the local language (otherwise, how would those self-same non-Latin speaking “peasants” know who Jesus and Our Lady were?).
    * Greek and Old Church Slavonic were used to similar effect in the Orthodox Church.

  34. My favorite quotation (Michael Garson) is … ” the soft bigotry of low expectations”. My son’s “partner” is a (half) black woman of immigrant parents who holds a PhD in Bioscience. She grew up on the mean streets of Long Beach but somehow managed to learn her algebra in the 7th grade. Why?! Because her (old style) immigrant father instilled VALUES in his children, and taught them what is needed to be successful in life. Primarily, hard work, and goal-setting.
    And this is the WORST brand of bigotry (racism) possible … to lower expectations … for a new generation of slackers. Racing to bottom is quite a cottage industry here in our land of plenty.

  35. Not to be pedantic but the photo shows the lady solving an integral equation – that would be calculus not algebra.

  36. You are presenting the most charitable justification why Latin was used. I presented the most cynical one. Can you honestly say that the Catholic Church did not have any ulterior motives of maintaining power and privileged by claiming only they could properly understand and interpret the Bible? On a more general point, didn’t mass illiteracy make it easier to manipulate believers since they could not verify information on gherkin own?

  37. Albert Einstein did not fail high school math. That is an urban legend. He did poorly in languages and initially failed an entrance exam to a polytechnic school in Switzerland. So he got a job at a local patent office and studied for the following year (and was accepted).
    Einstein was known to be exceptionally gifted in the areas of math and physics. But he was easily bored and lacked discipline to study all subjects. Some of his teachers saw that (lack of motivation) as being lazy.
    An interesting line in the article is the fact that while 80% of blacks do not meet the math requirement within six years of enrolling, over 60% of the white students also didn’t meet the requirements. That is a staggeringly high number. The article goes on to state that students have far more success with statistics than algebra but it does not mention the percentage of blacks, hispanics and whites who would not meet the math requirement (if it was switched from algebra to statistics). The problem is likely the same with statistics only with lower percentages for all races. As I recall from my university days, statistics was so easy we couldn’t use it as a qualifying math course in the sciences, while my friends in social sciences were able to use it as their math credit.
    I get the feeling that universities are trying to make it easier for college students to transfer to universities because they are running low on students, not because they are promoting racial equality. Lower the bar and let more in.
    (a1a2)x^2 + (a1b2+b1a2)x + b1b2 = y^2
    y = sqrt (of above)

  38. Gherkin is supposed to be their. Spellchecker is seriously strange sometimes. 🙂

  39. For greater clarity…
    http://www.history.com/topics/einsteins-life-facts-and-fiction
    In some ways, yes. When he was very young, Einstein’s parents worried that he had a learning disability because he was very slow to learn to talk. (He also avoided other children and had extraordinary temper tantrums.) When he started school, he did very well-he was a creative and persistent problem-solver-but he hated the rote, disciplined style of the teachers at his Munich school, and he dropped out when he was 15. Then, when he took the entrance examination for a polytechnic school in Zurich, he flunked. (He passed the math part, but failed the botany, zoology and language sections.) Einstein kept studying and was admitted to the polytechnic institute the following year, but even then he continued to struggle: His professors thought that he was smart but much too pleased with himself, and some doubted that he would graduate. He did, but not by much-which is how the young physicist found himself working in the Swiss Patent Office instead of at a school or university.
    You either pass or fail the entrance exam…in European schools it is a binary result.
    In short, anyone can write a bad exam on any given day; it shouldn’t determine who you are.
    Cheers
    Hans Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
    1st Saint Nicolaas Army
    Army Group ‘True North’

  40. “Albert Einstein failed high school math”
    When Albert Einstein was 16 he applied to a top ranked technical college where he scored exceptionally high in math and physics, but failed the general knowledge section.
    He entered a “high school” where he spent a year getting ready for the general knowledge exam again, and while there scored at the highest rank in math.
    He was accepted into the technical college at 17 years of age.

  41. Speaking purely personally, I found that algebra was hard – as taught by my math teacher at school. Then, another teacher, who didn’t teach math, showed me how it was done. he didn’t just recite formulaic ways to shuffle stuff about, he explained why you shuffled stuff about like that. It clicked. It became easy.
    Like a lot of stuff, it isn’t about how hard it is, its about how well it is taught.

  42. Oakley clearly believes blacks are less intelligent than whites, because they cannot pass algebra, something invented by Muslims.
    No, the moslems did not invent it, the Babylonians did, long before there were any moslems to take credit for it, along with their other delusions like inventing airplanes and music.

  43. You should read up on California’s teachers union. A while back I read that they have 65000 meme ers and in that year fewer than ten were fired – all for assaulting or killing a student. School boards are powerless.

  44. Demonstrated ability in math is a good predictor for success even in unrelated (or apparently unrelated) subjects (organic chemistry for example).
    Again, if you don’t understand compound interest, your life is likely to be – expensive.

  45. That still doesn’t change the fact that Einstein dropped out of school at age 15. (Not an uncommon occurence in this age grouping even in the modern age…)
    Thus one can legitimately say the Einstein was among the “world’s most gifted dropouts/flunkies”.
    When you fail to complete a course of studies, it is still a fail. Today they would call it an incomplete.
    There may be technical reasons, extenuating circumstances or poor pedagogical practices to take into account; but nonetheless an accurate statement.
    Einstein would be described in current parlance an ‘autodidact’ or self taught; having mastered differential and integral calculus by age 16.
    For a more exhaustive treatment of his physics and life, here is a good starting point (had to pull out my old history of science paper circa 1987):
    Subtle Is the Lord: The Science and the Life of Albert Einstein
    1982
    by Abraham Pais
    Oxford University Press, USA
    ISBN 0192806726
    ISBN-13 9780192806727
    Number of pages 552 pages
    You should be able to find reprints of this fine text anno 2005.
    https://books.google.ca/books/about/Subtle_Is_the_Lord.html?id=U2mO4nUunuwC
    Abraham Pais, himself an eminent physicist who worked alongside Einstein in the post-war years, traces the development of Einstein’s entire oeuvre. This is the first book which deal comprehensively and in depth with Einstein’s science, both the successes and the failures.Running through the book is a completely non-scientific biography (identified in the table of contents by italic type) including many letters which appear in English for the first time, as well as other information not published before.Throughout the preparation of this book, Pais has had complete access to the Einstein Archives (now in the possession of the Hebrew University) and the invaluable guidance of the late Helen Dukas–formerly Einstein’s private secretary.
    Subtle is the Lord… (the Einstein quote finishes “…but he is not malicious” and neither am I.
    Cheers
    Hans Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
    1st Saint Nicolaas Army
    Army Group ‘True North’

  46. I was hoping someone would expand the equation so I could compare. I haven’t taken a math class for about 50 years. It didn’t look like a tough problem but as I said, it’s been a long time. Still, somehow I managed to get the same answer as you Steve. Hope we’re correct…..
    My 9th grade algebra teacher was a German guy with little patience, yet I remember him well. He said it was all about discipline… you must discipline your mind. I agree though I was never strong in math.
    Learning things like algebra and basic physics, basic chemistry are part of a good education even if you never use them. I see this proposal (article) as simply part of the dumbing down of America.

  47. Oh yes! It is usually called Higher Algebra, and includes topics such as group theory, rings and ideals etc.

  48. Most college grads won’t end up working in their field of study. The purpose of college is to signal to employers the quality of an applicant. That’s all. If you weaken the standards you dilute the signal to employers and college becomes and even bigger waste of time and resources.

  49. If you weaken the standards you dilute the signal to employers and college becomes and even bigger waste of time and resources.
    Most of my undergrad classmates got the prime jobs not because of what they knew or did as students but, instead, of who they knew.

  50. If a statistics course is actually rigorous, it will require a basic level of algebra in order to derive the various formulae. If students are failing the basic algebra and passing the statistics, that tells me the statistics course is NOT rigorous. No underlying understanding of the various statistical techniques is being taught, which means students would be unable to identify when statistics are being abused.
    One other complaint: his test at the end is flawed. His claim is that colleges are saying “if you can’t do algebra, you don’t deserve a college degree”, and I actually agree that many smart people wouldn’t be able to solve that problem. But that isn’t what colleges are saying. Instead, colleges are saying “if you can’t do algebra DESPITE TAKING AN ALGEBRA COURSE, you don’t deserve a college degree”. It’s not “can you solve for y”, it’s “if you spend four months with someone teaching you to solve for y, can you solve for y”. Completely different.

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