FACT CHECK: Did The Gates Foundation Determine Math Lessons Are ‘Racist?’
A video shared on Facebook claims the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has purportedly determined math lessons are “racist.”
Screenshot captured via Facebook
Verdict: False
The claim is false. A spokesperson for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation denied the claim’s validity in an email to USA Today, the outlet reported. A spokesperson for the foundation also denied the claim’s validity to Check Your Fact via email.
Fact Check:
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is teaming up with Saudi Arabia to eradicate polio in 33 Islamic Development Bank member countries, according to a recent press release from the foundation. Saudi Arabia has pledged $500 million to support the initiative, the same release indicates.
The Facebook video, which has garnered over 15,000 likes as of writing, features singer Tom MacDonald who makes the claim. “What are we teaching kids? That two plus two equals the N-word now?,” MacDonald says in the same clip. A screenshot of an article bearing the headline, “Math Lessons Are Racist, as per the Gates Foundation,” is superimposed on the video.
The claim is false, however. Check Your Fact performed a keyword search using the headline that appears in the video. It appears the headline stems from an April 9 article published by the Capital Research Center. The article claims the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation “is behind the push to label most traditional math instruction as white supremacist” and links to a 2021 document made available to teachers in California titled “Dismantling Racism In Math Instruction: A Pathway To Equitable Instruction.”
According to an April 29 article from USA Today, the document was published by the non-profit Education Trust-West. Mariel Matze, a spokesperson for the non-profit, denied the Capital Research Center article’s claim that the document labels math as “racist.”
“[The document] absolutely does not say that math is racist,” Matze said, also according to the outlet.
Likewise, Allan Golston, president of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s U.S. program, denied the claim that the foundation has purportedly deemed math lessons are “racist.”
“The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has never said, nor do we believe, that math is racist,” Golston told USA Today via email.
In addition, Check Your Fact found no credible news reports to support the claim. The claim is not referenced on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s website or its verified social media accounts, either. (RELATED: Did Harvard University Replace The U.S. Flag With The Palestinian Flag?)
A spokesperson for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also denied the claim’s validity to Check Your Fact via email.
“The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has never said, nor do we believe that math is racist. Math does not discriminate by race or ethnicity. Our K-12 Education team is focused on a vision that all students graduate high school skilled in the math they need to be successful in higher education, the workforce and life. Math is a critical tool for future success, and all students deserve access to high-quality instruction and resources to help them reach their full potential,” the spokesperson said.