Racist Math

Racist Math

In all the different senses.

The Justice Department has determined a police-force qualification test which included a math section is racist, because, well, minorities didn't perform as well on math as whites.

The Justice Department claimed that the test’s pass-fail system had a disproportionate effect on minorities because the passing rates for blacks and Hispanics were less than 80 percent of the passing rate for whites.
From 2002 to mid-2005, about 85 percent of white applicants passed the math exam, compared with 59 percent of blacks and 66 percent of Hispanics.

Ahem.
I had thought that "racism" consisted of not hiring a minority who was otherwise qualified to do a job (based on grades, experience, test scores, etc.) because he was a minority.

Now it turns out that "racism" consists of not hiring a minority who may or may not be qualified to do a job (based on grades, experience, test scores, etc.). And he should be hired anyway, just because she is a minority.

It's obviously racist to not hire a minority who has all the qualifications you seek. But the new regime (okay, it's not all that new, is it?) is simply that it's racist to not hire a minority, despite his failing to meet minimum qualifications.

Like it or not, math is a simple, if somewhat crude, method of guaging innate intelligence and problem-solving abilities. If you're not good at math, odds are you're not particularly smart or adept at abstract thinking. Sure, there are exceptions -- there are brilliant people who still don't know how to figure out the tip on a check. But it is a useful proxy to screen out the dummies.

More @ http://tinyurl.com/j4xcp Ace Of Spades

IMO, the author is far to kind in his assessment of the intelligence of people the fact that only 85% of 'whites' could pass the test says it all. These tests aren't geared to people who belong to the 'Mensa Society', these are tests that crash dummies could pass. And then an employer is suppose to hire a dummy to deal with other dummies who are the customers/patrons of his business. Yes this will approach a 'Three Stooges Fire Drill' for a laugh a second, along with merry-mix-ups and other hi-jinx's!