Watermelon Math

Next time someone repeats the saw that conservatives are racist and liberals are not - please tell them about this story.

Dear Friends: The following sample math problem was given to students as part of their final exam at Bellevue Community College in Washington State. I was asked by black students to represent them in this matter. Some of these students attend my church. I am asking all of you and your friends to e-mail the school at the following e-mail addresses and express your outrage: Advising@bcc.ctc.edu, tpritcha@bcc.ctc.edu, and amatsumo@bcc.ctc.edu. The following is the math problem given to the students.

Condoleezza holds a watermelon just over the edge of the roof of the 300 -foot Federal Building, and tosses it up with a velocity of 20 feet per second. The height of the watermelon above the ground t seconds later is given by formula h= -16t² + 20t + 300

a. How many seconds will it pass her (she's standing at a height of 300 feet) on the way down?

b. When will the watermelon hit ground?

If they used this same problem and substituted Condoleezza's name with Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton, there would be mass protest and they would shut the college down. Because it was Condoleezza Rice, they wanted to ignore it until I showed up today. Please e-mail the college and express your outrage and your support of having me at the table to resolve this issue. I am demanding that the college to do several things to correct the problem.

This is serious. Please do not let me down, I want thousands of e-mails to come from all across the country. A CBS affiliate, KIRO TV did cover this story.

Rev. Wayne Perryman

Bigotry and offensive language knows no political ideology.

Comments

[Greg]

How does this relate to someone being liberal or conservative?

[Peg]

It is an example of liberals mocking a woman, and using a stereotypical symbol about black people to do so.

The point of my post is that both conservatives and liberals can be racists - or commit racist acts. This is one example.

[Greg]

I am lost, which liberal person mocked Dr. Rice?? There is no reference to the professor who gave this question, their political beliefs or anything else. There is just the inference by you that this was a liberal that handed out the question, yet no where in your post or Ms Malkin's blog does anything go to stating this. I am wondering if this so upsets you, or bothers you, where was your outrage when a talk show host called her a 'coon'?

[Peg]

By definition, I doubt any conservatives would mock Rice in this way.

As for the "coon" comment - I listened to an actual recording of the show myself. In my opinion, the talk show host simply mispoke; conflated two words together, and it came out in this unfortunate manner.

The host was lauding Rice immediately before the slip - and apologized profusely afterwards. It was not a slur.

[BCC Student]

As a BCC grad and former student in said course (unfortunately twice--with two different professors), I took the liberty of locating my old practice exams. The first professor, in Winter 2003, provided two practice finals, both with questions containing references to "dark chocolate fudge" and "Tiger Weeds, an avid golfer...". The second professor, in Spring 2003, handed out an exam similar in format and not offensive in the least. Of course, this could be of absolutely no significance...

[Peg]

BBC student - not sure I follow - but - you mean the professor was referring to Tiger as "dark chocolate fudge?" In 2003?

I am saddened and repulsed.

[Michael]

I don't see how this has anything do with liberals or conservatives. It's sad that this is turning into something political. People are acting like everyone is just ignoring this incident because it was directed toward a conservative. The reality is, this guy is receiving death threats and on the verge of losing his job...the NAACP is all over this.

I used to go to BCC and know other people who have had this professor. The original test question referred to Gallagher but students didn't know who he was anymore so the teacher changed the name to a more visible figure. It was an honest mistake but he apologized anyway. People are still trying to get him fired and sending him death threats.