Someone passed this story to me via e-mail. I wasn’t sure that it was legit until I saw it in the news this morning.
Bellevue Community College President Jean Floten apologized Wednesday at an emotional open-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.
The hour-and-a-half meeting, attended by more than 150 people, opened an important dialog, but more needs to be done, said Chelsey Richardson, one of the students who brought the issue to college officials.
When she felt her concerns weren’t taken seriously, Richardson went to the media and to the Rev. Wayne Perryman, 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.
Richardson, 25, said she found the question on a practice test for a math final she was studying for in March. The question read, “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.” The question went on to ask when the watermelon will hit the ground, based on a formula provided. The 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.
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. (more…)
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Oh, I got yo’ sensitivity training…and its on the tip of my foot!
This was more than a slip of the tounge. This teacher sat down to type all of this out. I say, screw the tenure crap and cut this guy. The students are paying to learn math, not his views on race.
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