Teacher mocks Native American culture in attempt to teach math lesson

[Ursus]

For those who aren't familiar, SOH-CAH-TOA is a mnemonic device math teachers tell their students to help them remember trigonometric ratios. It's not hard at all to remember/understand so most teachers spend less than a minute introducing it and get on with the lesson.

For some reason, this teacher felt it was necessary to go full moron and put feathers on her head and pretend to be Native American (or at least her impression of Native Americans) and dance/scream/cry like an insane person for a few minutes. If you watch the video (which was recorded by a Native American student), it is one of the most cringeworthy things I've ever seen.

She has since been suspended by the school district pending an investigation. To those who might defend her and say the students will never forget the lesson, I'll say there are plenty of ways of making something memorable without resorting to making a complete asshole of yourself and mocking an entire culture.

You decide: Is the teacher a racist, mentally ill, on drugs, some combination thereof, or something else?

[PACOX]

There's a spectrum. I don't think she was being malignant but definitely insensitive and not aware of how her actions are wrong. A lot of people don't as society hasn't forced a lot of people to challenge their views and normalizing using particular people as caricatures

Its not enough to just suspend her if no one explains to why she is wrong.

I bet the student recording has seen heard a lot of stuff that people thought was OK and this was the tipping point. Flashbacks of awkward lessons about slavery while being one of two of the black students in the room.

[Edge-]

I'm blown away this made if off of social media and into the news, or that people are losing their minds over this.

This some stupid, cringe shit and I'm not gonna defend it, but at the same time...she's trying to get the kids engaged (and failing) and it doesn't seem like she's some malicious racist. Just a bit of an idiot math teacher who went overboard and didn't fully engage her brain.

Put her on leave and give her a serious talking to and maybe some additional training, have her apologize to the students when she comes back. Call it a day. If it becomes a repeat problem sure, do more, but this seems like the internet is salivating for enemies to attack to feel morally superior to.

[Ursus]

Put her on leave and give her a serious talking to and maybe some additional training, have her apologize to the students when she comes back. Call it a day. If it becomes a repeat problem sure, do more, but this seems like the internet is salivating for enemies to attack to feel morally superior to.

Apparently she's been doing this since at least 2012, there's a picture of her in the school's 2012 yearbook wearing the feathers along with a comment about her little skit. So administrators were likely aware of it and didn't care at all about it until it made the news.

[Dacia Ultan]

Racism doesn't necessarily require malice. If you interview Nevaeh and put Shaniqua's résumé directly into the round file, despite them being equally qualified, because Shaniqua comes off as too "ghetto" or whatever: that does not necessarily require you to hate Shaniqua.

It does, however, imply that the conclusions you jumped to were not based purely on her having an excruciatingly "novel" given name (after all: so does Nevaeh), and more likely than not had something to do with how those names are racially "coded." (This is an observed phenomenon, by the way.) This teacher, similarly, seems to have some unexamined prejudices; and she just aired them all out in public.

[Shadowferal]

I'm blown away this made if off of social media and into the news, or that people are losing their minds over this.

Yeah... My old math teacher spoke of a native named such...but that was it. No props. Just the mnemonic for trig class.

[PACOX]

Apparently she's been doing this since at least 2012, there's a picture of her in the school's 2012 yearbook wearing the feathers along with a comment about her little skit. So administrators were likely aware of it and didn't care at all about it until it made the news.

Because the behavior is/was 'normalized'. Remember we just had a football team named the 'Redskins' change their name with many people upset because 'thats always been their name and it wasn't hurting anyone'.

Damn remember when Warren walked around claiming to be Native American? People are often insensitive even when they don't mean to due to outdated norms.

[Endus]

There's a spectrum. I don't think she was being malignant but definitely insensitive and not aware of how her actions are wrong. A lot of people don't as society hasn't forced a lot of people to challenge their views and normalizing using particular people as caricatures

The use of peoples and cultures as caricatures to begin with is, itself, malignant. This isn't really functionally different from using blackface. When people say "but I don't hold malice against the people I was mocking", what they're really saying is that their malice wasn't out of hot hatred, but casual disregard. That isn't better.

The idea that racism is born out of hot anger is one that's never held water. Literally never.

Its not enough to just suspend her if no one explains to why she is wrong.

In the sense that without doing so, she'll come back and repeat the offence, maybe.

In a more general sense, when people are fired over things like this, though, they are not owed any explanation of their wrongdoing to their own satisfaction. That's not their employer's responsibility. Their employer needs to ensure they had grounds a court would be satisfied with, not the ex-employee. Who's owed absolutely fuck-all in that situation.

Speaking in general and about firings. Since this was a suspension, and she'll be returning, she'll need to understand how casual racism is not okay. And if she can't accept/understand that, she can get fired with cause, instead.

[Edge-]

Apparently she's been doing this since at least 2012, there's a picture of her in the school's 2012 yearbook wearing the feathers along with a comment about her little skit. So administrators were likely aware of it and didn't care at all about it until it made the news.

Aight, sit them all down and give them a stern fuckin talking to and some additional training. If they keep that shit up, shitcan them as they do. But this still just seems like cringy teacher trying to get kids excited about math without realizing out stupid and kinda fuckin racist what she's doing is. These are the people that are supposed to be more easily reached and turned around since they're not doing it with malicious intent or warped logic, they're just fuckin daft and can't see beyond their privilege.

[Endus]

Racism doesn't necessarily require malice. If you interview Nevaeh and put Shaniqua's résumé directly into the round file, despite them being equally qualified, because Shaniqua comes off as too "ghetto" or whatever: that does not necessarily require you to hate Shaniqua.

It does, however, imply that the conclusions you jumped to were not based purely on her having an excruciatingly "novel" given name (after all: so does Nevaeh), and more likely than not had something to do with how those names are racially "coded." (This is an observed phenomenon, by the way.) This teacher, similarly, seems to have some unexamined prejudices; and she just aired them all out in public.

If you're drawing that conclusion based on their name, then that is "malice". Hell, describing one candidate as "too ghetto" indicates a level of malice. You can just say "displayed a lack of professional decorum" if that's what you really mean; don't used coded terminology that betrays malice.

That's the thing; "malice" has no need to be "hot". In legal terms, "malice" basically just translates as "intent to cause harm/injury". If you intended to round-file Shaniqua's application because her conduct was too "culturally black", that's intent, and it caused harm, and that's "malice". Just because you're not seething with white-hot rage at "the blacks", that doesn't make the casual racism non-malicious.

[Aurgjelme]

The use of peoples and cultures as caricatures to begin with is, itself, malignant. This isn't really functionally different from using blackface.

So..this is racism as well?

[PACOX]

The use of peoples and cultures as caricatures to begin with is, itself, malignant. This isn't really functionally different from using blackface. When people say "but I don't hold malice against the people I was mocking", what they're really saying is that their malice wasn't out of hot hatred, but casual disregard. That isn't better.

The idea that racism is born out of hot anger is one that's never held water. Literally never.



In the sense that without doing so, she'll come back and repeat the offence, maybe.

In a more general sense, when people are fired over things like this, though, they are not owed any explanation of their wrongdoing to their own satisfaction. That's not their employer's responsibility. Their employer needs to ensure they had grounds a court would be satisfied with, not the ex-employee. Who's owed absolutely fuck-all in that situation.

Speaking in general and about firings. Since this was a suspension, and she'll be returning, she'll need to understand how casual racism is not okay. And if she can't accept/understand that, she can get fired with cause, instead.

I agree no one owes her an explanation. I would saw she should know better. But I don't know just tossing her out would solve anything. Plenty of real racists are definitely going to try to safe she did nothing wrong and the school is trying to 'cancel' her. Im also assuming this is the worst she has done.

[Endus]

So..this is racism as well?

Nobody alive today is a Viking, so the question of whether it's racist or not is basically irrelevant; it can't harm anyone.

Particularly when you realize they're not dressing up as a Norse warrior from 1000 years ago, they're dressing up as German opera characters from a couple hundred years ago.

[PACOX]

[IMG]https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/EReXigaoK6TVdYeslzXAb7T6eDk=/0x146:580x533/1400x1050/filters:focal(0x146:580x533):format(jpeg)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/imported_assets/815628/viking_fan.jpg[/IG]

So..this is racism as well?

Do Vikings have a long history of being ostracized and torn down society?

[Dacia Ultan]

If you're drawing that conclusion based on their name, then that is "malice". Hell, describing one candidate as "too ghetto" indicates a level of malice. You can just say "displayed a lack of professional decorum" if that's what you really mean; don't used coded terminology that betrays malice.

That's the thing; "malice" has no need to be "hot". In legal terms, "malice" basically just translates as "intent to cause harm/injury". If you intended to round-file Shaniqua's application because her conduct was too "culturally black", that's intent, and it caused harm, and that's "malice". Just because you're not seething with white-hot rage at "the blacks", that doesn't make the casual racism non-malicious.

Point. What I was getting at was that when people hear "racism," they presume that the accusation is one of "hot" malice; said presumption is faulty (again: the name thing is an observed phenomenon); and that even if the teacher's intent wasn't to actively attack First Nation students, her little display was still racist.

[Endus]

I agree no one owes her an explanation. I would saw she should know better. But I don't know just tossing her out would solve anything. Plenty of real racists are definitely going to try to safe she did nothing wrong and the school is trying to 'cancel' her. Im also assuming this is the worst she has done.

I'm not saying she deserved to be fired, as a first offense. I took issue with your point because it at least implied that people like her are owed some explanation, that unless they understand and accept the action taken against them, the action was unjust.

And that's just wrong. If someone's casually racist and gets fired, and demands an explanation from their boss as to why, their boss owes them nothing beyond "here's your back pay, get the fuck off my property or I'm calling security". If you really think you have a case for wrongful dismissal, talk to a lawyer about it.

[Aurgjelme]

Nobody alive today is a Viking, so the question of whether it's racist or not is basically irrelevant; it can't harm anyone.

Particularly when you realize they're not dressing up as a Norse warrior from 1000 years ago, they're dressing up as German opera characters from a couple hundred years ago.

Traditions from that people are still alive today in Scandinavia, its part of their history, and probably the era they are most famous for.
In the same way that Native Americans have their history.

Norse and Native Americanas are not that different, they had similar cultures in many ways. And they are both evolved now.

If you can make fun of Norse culture ( which was attempted to be destroyed by the catholic church), you can make fun of Native American culture.

If you can dress up as a Norse living a 1000 years ago, you can dress up as a Native American living a 1000 years ago.

[Endus]

Traditions from that people are still alive today in Scandinavia, its part of their history, and probably the era they are most famous for.
In the same way that Native Americans have their history.

This is just aggressively, deeply incorrect.

What's being mocked here isn't ancient traditions, it's current cultural practices.

The Viking era ended nearly 1000 years ago.

Kudos on demonstrating you have no understanding of what you're making fun of.

[Cthulhu 2020]

I'm blown away this made if off of social media and into the news, or that people are losing their minds over this.

This some stupid, cringe shit and I'm not gonna defend it, but at the same time...she's trying to get the kids engaged (and failing) and it doesn't seem like she's some malicious racist. Just a bit of an idiot math teacher who went overboard and didn't fully engage her brain.

Put her on leave and give her a serious talking to and maybe some additional training, have her apologize to the students when she comes back. Call it a day. If it becomes a repeat problem sure, do more, but this seems like the internet is salivating for enemies to attack to feel morally superior to.

Pretty much, it's cringe, but she tried to think of some kind of method to get her students to remember SOH CAH TOA. I had a similar math teacher who would do silly things to get us to memorize and remember certain concepts. Like when we were learning Logarithms we didn't know we were. He came in strumming a log with some strings strung between two branches. We sat there for a few minutes while he did that, and then he was like "What are you all looking at? We're doing log-a-rhythms today"

Him going that extra mile and doing silly stuff made me remember that shit and the concepts behind them.

[uuuhname]

it's pretty awful and clearly isn't doing anything but make her students cringe. I can see anyone of indigenous decent seeing this and being incredibly uncomfortable at best... that said it must be a slow news week for this to get any sort of traction off of social media.