It’s the misogynistic microaggressions for me! People on Twitter are reacting to a shared math assignment given to Missouri students featuring word problems that detail Maya Angelou’s sexual abuse.
Here are a few examples:
USA Today fact-checked the social media claims and unfortunately, the above example is real!
According to USA Today – A school district in Missouri drew wide condemnation online after social media users shared posts of a math problem that referenced author and poet Maya Angelou’s sexual abuse and sex work.
“CRAP BEING TAUGHT (TO) OUR KIDS – SICK!” a Facebook user wrote April 18 in a post that was shared more than 250 times in two days.
Other versions of the image racked up thousands of additional shares across Facebook and Twitter.
The image shows two algebra problems attached to trivia questions based on Angelou’s life.
The first question asks students to fill in the blank to the following prompt: “Angelou was sexually abused by her mother’s ______ at age 8, which shaped her career choices and motivation for writing.” The second says, “Trying to support her son as a single mother, she worked as a pimp, prostitute and ______.”
This was a real assignment given to high schoolers in the Lincoln County R-III School District in Missouri.
The full image of the assignment shows additional questions about Angelou’s hometown and professorial career at Wake Forest University, among other topics.
Confirmation for those who think it’s too ridiculous to be real. pic.twitter.com/ApfAOIFOym
— UnWokable | Mark Ousley (@AcsAgainstCRT) April 23, 2022
and
Even if this didn’t include Maya Angelou, how is this educational? In the real world, you can’t substitute knowledge of someone’s biography for algebra.
— Todd of Mischief (@AndToddsaid) April 23, 2022
and
This is feminized learning. It’s specifically tying logical processes to emotional choices in the context of a social setting. Maybe this works for little girls, but I doubt it works for little boys. Multiple choice + cringey social BS answers? =excellent opp to game the results.
— Chargerfryar (@Chargerfryar) April 24, 2022
Comment your thoughts below!
