The “Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations” And Its Role in Maintaining White Supremacy through Mathematics Education

Abstract

The articles in this volume of the Bank Street Occasional Paper Series document successes and struggles in supporting the teaching and learning of mathematics as critical mathematical inquiry (CMI). CMI efforts range from teaching mathematics for social justice to broadening school mathematics to making mathematics classrooms places where people want to participate, and more. CMI challenges systems of power and oppression, such as white supremacy, that exist in and operate through mathematics education (Battey & Levya, 2016; Martin, 2013, 2018). Any initiative that demands transfer of power away from those who possess it will always be countered by hegemonic forces that seek, instead, to maintain the status quo (Guinier & Torres, 2002). This means that those who engage with or advocate for CMI are vulnerable to forces whose expression can range from negative feedback from parents, students, or colleagues; disciplinary action from a school or district; or even targeted harassment on social or other media by white supremacists. Indeed, fears about such pushback are a known deterrent to CMI efforts (Simic-Muller, Fernandes, & Felton-Koestler, 2015).