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Is Computer Science Education Racist and Sexist?
theodp writes "What's wrong with this picture?" asked Code.org at its launch earlier this year, lamenting the lack of Computer Science students in a race and gender reference-free infographic. But as the organization has grown via public/private partnerships and inked agreements to drive the CS curriculum for the Chicago and NYC school systems, the same stats webpage has adopted a new gender and racial equity focus, positioning Computer Science education as "a chance to level the playing field" for women, Hispanic and African American students. The new message is consistent with the recently-forged Code.org partnership with the NSF-funded Exploring Computer Science (ECS, "a K-12/university partnership committed to democratizing computer science") and Computer Science Principles (CSP, "a new course under development that seeks to broaden participation in computing and computer science"). According to The Research Behind ECS, an "insidious 'virtual segregation' that maintains inequality" is to blame for keeping the number of African Americans and Latino/as CS students disproportionately low. So, what might the future of Code.org's proposed equity-based U.S. K-12 CS education look like? "Including culturally relevant instructional materials represented a driving focus of our course development," explained ECS Team members who now advise Code.org. "Cultural design tools encourage students to artistically express computing design concepts from Latino/a, African American, or Native American history as well as cultural activities in dance, skateboarding, graffiti art, and more. These types of lessons are important for students to build personal relationships with computer science concepts and applications – an important process for discovering the relevance of computer science for their own life." And — ironically for Code.org — it could mean less coding."
Computer Science is much easier if you have a high IQ. Ergo African Americans, by and large, won't do well in C/S. (Ducking... and anonymous...)
Attacking feminism is not the same as attacking women, and feminism is NOT the belief that women are just as smart as capable as any man and deserve to be treated as such.
NOPE! Gamers HATE women! GAME CULTURE IS SEXIST! Ugh.
Um... yeah it is. (âoeThe sexual harassment is part of the culture. If you remove that from the fighting game community, itâ(TM)s not the fighting game community") It's also hyper macho, homophobic and racist, you retarded nigger cocksucking faggot pussy.
You can "get tired of this shit" all you want. Hell, I'm also "tired of this shit" too. I can't believe that we're still having these conversations, because people like you refuse to acknowledge what's perfectly obvious.
We must be the same age since you talk about learning to program basic on a Apple //e. For me, it was a C=64. You say it cost you a "hundred lawns." Fine. I saved for mine as well, but I bet your daddy drove you to K-Mart to buy it, just like mine did. (Yes kiddies, K-Mart sold computers back in the day.) "No one could prevent [you]"? Yeah right. I'm sure your parents could have, but they didn't. I will tell you this, you existed in a cultural milieu that encouraged programming. Home computers were cool status symbol in white suburbia. BYTE. Compute! ENTER, Even 321 Contact Magazine had programming examples. Today, where are those programming milieus? The same places they were 30 years ago: rich (i.e. white, asian, and indian) suburban schools. Face it, only the middle class had the disposable income to spend on these electronic contrivances. The question is, who is encouraging potential underrepresented engineers? Who is even telling them that programming is even a possibility for them? People are influenced by what they see.
You say that women won't make sacrifices to produce a game on time. So what are you saying? Women are quitters? Is that why girls are just as interested in STEM in grade and middle school, but then drop out in high school and college? Or is it, that they simply don't want to put up with the shit they're subjected to on a daily basis. I've been in the meetings where "the girl's" judgement is habitually questioned. The meetings where she stands up for herself, and then afterwards the men say she's either "PMSing" or is a "bitch."
You say calling some one sexist is slander. I say calling you sexist, isn't, because your post is evidence enough. You don't even seen your own white male privilege.
For fuck's sake, open your goddamn eyes. Read something that challenges your presumptions. Do something intelligent for once.
I'm afraid I can't condense it down to a dictionary definition. However, I'm certain your wikipedia definition does not characterize it properly, as feminism seeks to exclude the input of males on all issues, and simultaneously hold us responsible for all the ills of the world. Feminism claims the right to put men at a disadvantage in any given situation, on the theory that men have so much "privilege" that any discrimination against us is only partially compensating for it. That's not equality.