math and stuff

[teebeeohh]

so a school in Georgia gave third graders math problems that had slaves picking fruit and being beaten.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/01/georgia-school-investigates-slave-math-problems

So far so insensitive, my actual problem is this: those seem like easy(using multiplication/division problems. Why are 8 year old kids doing this, shouldn't they be doing much harder stuff by third grade? I (and i checked in with my cousin who just turned 7) had to do this kinda problem at the end of first grade
what do you think?
terribly racist?
culturally insensitive?
a good way to mix math with history and make room more interesting subjects?
really good bacon?

 

[madwarper]

Already heard the story from several different sources. Racist? Doubtful. Insensitive? Definitely.

The teachers who wrote the questions were trying to mix math and history in word problems.
They just happened to be learning about slavery in their history class, and thus was the subject matter of the word problems.

 

[evilneko]

Already heard the story from several different sources. Racist? Doubtful. Insensitive? Definitely.

The teachers who wrote the questions were trying to mix math and history in word problems.
They just happened to be learning about slavery in their history class, and thus was the subject matter of the word problems.

That's probably a pretty plausible explanation there. Never assume malice when incompetence adequately explains it, right?

Anyway IIRC in my elementary school we started on multiplication and division in second grade and continued it in third grade.