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What It's Like to Be a Black Mathematician

nytimes.com

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Re: What It's Like to Be a Black Mathematician

#4

Post by ml2019 »

> Dr. Goins’s colleagues at Purdue said his receipt of tenure and subsequent promotion to full professor signaled the university’s willingness to overlook a sparse research portfolio in light of his extraordinary work with undergraduates, as well as the summer programs he organized for minority students.

> But Dr. Goins said he was looking for something else. “I just never really felt respected,” he said.

It actually sounds like he was promoted to a position he's unqualified for, perhaps because of diversity and inclusion initiatives. His colleagues very likely understand that and are treating him differently because of his skillset and not because of his identity.

This is the unintended consequence of hiring and promoting based on identity instead of merit.

Re: What It's Like to Be a Black Mathematician

#5

Post by eruci »

"Fewer than 1 percent of doctorates in math are awarded to African-Americans"

So? We have affirmative action policies for university admissions. If an Asian needs an "X" SAT score, and an African-American "X - δ" to enter university, yet, fewer of them make it to the higher levels, what do we do? Have different standards for awarding doctorates based on race?

Western civilization is in crisis because of these social experimental policies undermining its original meritocratic competitive default mode.

So, the real question is, where/when at some point does this madness stop?

Re: What It's Like to Be a Black Mathematician

#6

Post by skh »

EDIT: Got rid of part of my post that had enough information in it that could be tied to people in real life.

--------

It doesn't help that West Lafayette is a very racist place in my experience. I'm white and a native speaker of American English. On my first day of teaching at Purdue I introduced myself to the class and a student asked, "Are you an American? Do you speak English?" At the time West Lafayette had a confusing road system for a small town. Lots of 5-way intersections and one way streets. I was late to a dental appointment and apologized to the dentist's secretary. I explained that I had a hard time figuring out how to get to the place. She responded, "Yeah, the road system here was designed by a drunk Indian." I'm certain living in Indiana exacerbated the situation.

Re: What It's Like to Be a Black Mathematician

#7

Post by burkaman »

eruci wrote: post #5

"Fewer than 1 percent of doctorates in math are awarded to African-Americans" So? We have affirmative action policies for university admissions. If an Asian needs an "X" SAT score, and an African-American "X - δ" to enter university, yet, fewer of them make it to the higher levels, what do we do? Have different standards for awarding doctorates based on race? Western civilization is in crisis because of these social…

> what do we do?

Good question. It's a very hard problem, and requires a lot of thought and self-reflection to even begin to solve. Simple university admission policies will not solve such a broad social issue, as you've noted.

> original meritocratic competitive default mode

Can you explain this? When/where did this meritocratic system exist?

Re: What It's Like to Be a Black Mathematician

#10

Post by Retra »

eruci wrote: post #5

"Fewer than 1 percent of doctorates in math are awarded to African-Americans" So? We have affirmative action policies for university admissions. If an Asian needs an "X" SAT score, and an African-American "X - δ" to enter university, yet, fewer of them make it to the higher levels, what do we do? Have different standards for awarding doctorates based on race? Western civilization is in crisis because of these social…

What crisis are you referring to? Why do you call it a crisis, rather than simply an ongoing problem?
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