Anger, apology over Condoleezza quiz
Math question said to invoke stereotype; College promises to improve sensitivity
Bellevue Community College President Jean Floten apologized Wednesday at an emotional all-campus meeting called after students complained about what they said was a racially offensive math question used on a practice test.
Floten praised the courage of the students who brought the question to the college's attention, and promised that the college would redouble its efforts to improve racial and cultural sensitivity on campus, including increasing staff training and creating an ombudsman position.
"We called this meeting, and we had the courage to meet each other and learn from each other and put that learning to use," Floten said.
The hour-and-a-half meeting, attended by more than 150 people, opened an important dialogue, but more needs to be done, said Chelsey Richardson, one of the students who brought the issue to college officials.
Richardson, 25, said she found the question on a practice test for a math final she was studying for March. The question began, "Condoleezza holds a watermelon just over the edge of the roof of the 300-foot Federal Building, and tosses it up with a velocity of 20 feet per second." It went on to ask when the watermelon would hit the ground, based on a formula provided.
When Richardson felt her concerns weren't taken seriously, she went to the media and to the Rev. Wayne Perrman, a Mercer Island civil-rights activist. Perryman sent out an e-mail to friends across the country, some of whom belong to conservative and civil-rights groups. Those friends forwarded the e-mail, creating a snowball effect. The college has since received hundreds of e-mails, said Bob Adams, spokesman for BCC.
"The e-mails are primarily angry that this could happen; that's the most common theme," said Adams.
The test question propagates a racial stereotype and denigrates Secretary of State Rice, said Perryman. While Rice's last name wasn't mentioned, the reference was clear, he said.
"How many Condoleezzas spell their name that way and how many Condoleezzas are associated with a federal building? It doesn't take much to coneect the dotted lines," he said.
Richardson, along with her friend Ilays Aden, met with the chairman of the math department who agreed to remove the question from the department's files. But the woman left feeling the school needed to take a deeper look at how a racist stereotype could be inserted into the curriculum.
"It's not just the question; it's beyond the question," Richardson said. "It's the roots of where the question came from."
Perryman, who attended the meeting, said there would be no instant "microwave solutions" to the problem, but he was glad to see the college taking steps forward.
THe college declined to release the name of the teacher who wrote the question. Floten said the teacher has apologized and requested cultural-sensitivity training.
The test question was originally written with the name of a comedian, Gallagher, whose signature shtick was to smash a variety of objects, often watermelons. Later, the question was rewritten, and the name was changed to Condoleezza, Floten said.
In an e-mail to students, faculty and staff, Floten said she took "personal ownership that this act of institutional racism could happen despite a collegewide initiative pursued over many years to establish a safe and tolerant place for all to learn"
Math question said to invoke stereotype; College promises to improve sensitivity
Bellevue Community College President Jean Floten apologized Wednesday at an emotional all-campus meeting called after students complained about what they said was a racially offensive math question used on a practice test.
Floten praised the courage of the students who brought the question to the college's attention, and promised that the college would redouble its efforts to improve racial and cultural sensitivity on campus, including increasing staff training and creating an ombudsman position.
"We called this meeting, and we had the courage to meet each other and learn from each other and put that learning to use," Floten said.
The hour-and-a-half meeting, attended by more than 150 people, opened an important dialogue, but more needs to be done, said Chelsey Richardson, one of the students who brought the issue to college officials.
Richardson, 25, said she found the question on a practice test for a math final she was studying for March. The question began, "Condoleezza holds a watermelon just over the edge of the roof of the 300-foot Federal Building, and tosses it up with a velocity of 20 feet per second." It went on to ask when the watermelon would hit the ground, based on a formula provided.
When Richardson felt her concerns weren't taken seriously, she went to the media and to the Rev. Wayne Perrman, a Mercer Island civil-rights activist. Perryman sent out an e-mail to friends across the country, some of whom belong to conservative and civil-rights groups. Those friends forwarded the e-mail, creating a snowball effect. The college has since received hundreds of e-mails, said Bob Adams, spokesman for BCC.
"The e-mails are primarily angry that this could happen; that's the most common theme," said Adams.
The test question propagates a racial stereotype and denigrates Secretary of State Rice, said Perryman. While Rice's last name wasn't mentioned, the reference was clear, he said.
"How many Condoleezzas spell their name that way and how many Condoleezzas are associated with a federal building? It doesn't take much to coneect the dotted lines," he said.
Richardson, along with her friend Ilays Aden, met with the chairman of the math department who agreed to remove the question from the department's files. But the woman left feeling the school needed to take a deeper look at how a racist stereotype could be inserted into the curriculum.
"It's not just the question; it's beyond the question," Richardson said. "It's the roots of where the question came from."
Perryman, who attended the meeting, said there would be no instant "microwave solutions" to the problem, but he was glad to see the college taking steps forward.
THe college declined to release the name of the teacher who wrote the question. Floten said the teacher has apologized and requested cultural-sensitivity training.
The test question was originally written with the name of a comedian, Gallagher, whose signature shtick was to smash a variety of objects, often watermelons. Later, the question was rewritten, and the name was changed to Condoleezza, Floten said.
In an e-mail to students, faculty and staff, Floten said she took "personal ownership that this act of institutional racism could happen despite a collegewide initiative pursued over many years to establish a safe and tolerant place for all to learn"
Wow, what the fuck? I don't see how the fact that there is a black person mentioned in a problem is at all a stereotype. Are they saying that there exists a stereotype that black people throw objects off tall buildings? I really don't see what is so offensive about this question. You can bet if it had Bill Clinton throwing the watermelon, nobody would complain.
To me it sounds like the complainer just sucks at math (although this is really more what I would've expected to see in an intro to physics class than math but whatever), and wants an easy out. Now she can claim distress for inevitable failing her exam.
These people sound like they should be classified as legally retarded.
Here is a list of proposals BCC has so far to deal with it, also from the article (seriously, what the fuck?)
Creation of a vice president of Equity and Pluralism position
Creation of an Ombudsman position
Increased funding for pluralism training and development
Tracking data that illuminate places where the college fails to provide excellence to all students
A pluralism component in program review and employee evaluations
Having professional development days focus on pluralism, especially for the upcoming year, for faculty and staff
People are just crying wolf over nothing. Now innocent staff members (and I include the person who wrote the question here, but many more than that one will feel the fallout of this bullshit) are going to have to waste tons of time going to useless workshops about how we have to respect the differences.
Grr (also I have nothing to do with this event in any way, I just saw the article. I'm not a student at BCC. I think I'm going to send an e-mail to BCC math department saying that the accusations are total bullshit, though)