# No trolls left behind **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 8, 2012, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trolls-left-behind/608868 "2012-01-08T23:56:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trolls-left-behind/608868/41 "2012-01-09T02:20:58Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Why is it racist? Slave labor isn’t limited to any race, … This was Georgia. The US State, Georgia. Thus, it is completely racist. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trolls-left-behind/608868/42 "2012-01-09T02:22:16Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > \*\*That’s pretty damn ignorant of you. \*\* Gwinnett is heavily populated with transplants from other parts of the country. On top of that, the man who (probably) shot Flint isn’t even from there. Yes I know as I told you my sister and my best friend from Chicago lives there. HOWEVER, apparently still the same it seems, no? ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trolls-left-behind/608868/43 "2012-01-09T02:24:16Z")
> [@brittekland](#): > > Yes I know as I told you my sister and my best friend from Chicago lives there. HOWEVER, apparently still the same it seems, no? No. Like I said, the guy who shot Flint isn’t even from the fucking state. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trolls-left-behind/608868/44 "2012-01-09T02:28:05Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > No. Like I said, the guy who shot Flint isn’t even from the fucking state. Okay, I stand corrected (though I haven’t looked up). How about the person who wrote that assignment up? Is that person from Gwinnett County or the state? Just curious. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trolls-left-behind/608868/45 "2012-01-09T02:30:30Z")
Gwinnett County has a large black population. It, like everything else in the Atlanta metro area, has changed a lot since I lived there. When I was growing up, Forsyth County was the big scary racist place. That’s where the KKK paraded and everyone just knew you didn’t go there if you had melanin in your skin. Now I hear it’s not THAT bad. But that’s neither here nor there. The races of the teachers don’t matter. The races of the kids don’t matter. These math problems are insane. Period. The person who thought this was a good idea should be banned from all educational settings forever. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trolls-left-behind/608868/46 "2012-01-09T02:31:04Z")
> [@brittekland](#): > > Okay, I stand corrected (though I haven’t looked up). > > How about the person who wrote that assignment up? Is that person from Gwinnett County or the state? Just curious. Wow, that’s pretty pathetic. “It’s more if the same from Gwinnett County, even though the shit on which I’m basing its bad reputation didn’t even happen.” Well done. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trolls-left-behind/608868/47 "2012-01-09T02:31:56Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Hand wave all you want, they’re shitty, shitty, analogies. It’s not hand-waving at all. Apparently you don’t actually know what an analogy is. … Are you from Gwinnett County? … … Wait a minute, did you write these test questions? ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trolls-left-behind/608868/48 "2012-01-09T02:34:09Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > It’s not hand-waving at all. Apparently you don’t actually know what an analogy is. I know enough about them to spot a really shitty example. > [@](#): > > Are you from Gwinnett County? > > … > > … > > Wait a minute, did you write these test questions? Zing!! ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trolls-left-behind/608868/49 "2012-01-09T02:39:07Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > “A ship takes X days to sail from Africa to Georgia. It travels Y miles a day. How many days does the journey take?” This is just a wild guess, but you did not major in either math, or test question writing, did you? Or were you checking who you could whoosh here? ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trolls-left-behind/608868/50 "2012-01-09T02:39:38Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Wow, that’s pretty pathetic. > > “It’s more if the same from Gwinnett County, even though the shit on which I’m basing its bad reputation didn’t even happen.” > > Well done. I sincerely apologize for being ignorant and pathetic. I was off by a mile. Forgive me for dissing the area that you and my best friend reside. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trolls-left-behind/608868/51 "2012-01-09T02:40:54Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Well, it probably doesn’t belong in a third-grade class anyway; but in junior high, they could teach kids about the mathematics of the economics and politics of slavery. E.g., how the aggregate market value of the slaves in antebellum America exceeded the federal budget by X orders of magnitude (ruling out federally-mandated emancipation-with-compensation-to-slaveowners as a practical option). Sure. It’s exactly _how_ you should be teaching history in the upper level. But the questions for the third graders were extremely inappropriate. And…just bad curriculum. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trolls-left-behind/608868/52 "2012-01-09T02:45:53Z")
> [@brittekland](#): > > I sincerely apologize for being ignorant and pathetic. I was off by a mile. Forgive me for dissing the area that you and my best friend reside. I’ve already pointed out that I don’t live there. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trolls-left-behind/608868/53 "2012-01-09T02:49:00Z")
Also: According to the articles online, the teachers came up with this. This wasn’t some education schmuck in a cubicle. These were elementary school teachers. It also looks like they were paired with everyday generic math questions as well (You are driving a bus…), so it not only lacked sensitivity, but context as well. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trolls-left-behind/608868/54 "2012-01-09T02:49:43Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > I’ve already pointed out that I don’t live there. Sorry again. I’ve corrected it: Forgive me for dissing the area that my best friend reside. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trolls-left-behind/608868/55 "2012-01-09T02:53:26Z")
It was a stupid idea. There is no need to infuse math with social studies concepts. Math is math. If you want to make it more relevant and, possibly fun, for the kids, structure the problems around things they care about-- candy, games and shit like that. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trolls-left-behind/608868/56 "2012-01-09T02:53:38Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > Also: According to the articles online, the teachers came up with this. This wasn’t some education schmuck in a cubicle. These were elementary school teachers. > > It also looks like they were paired with everyday generic math questions as well (You are driving a bus…), so it not only lacked sensitivity, but context as well. The other questions I saw them paired with were also related to history. “Susan B Anthony was forced to pay a fine…”, or some such. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trolls-left-behind/608868/57 "2012-01-09T02:53:40Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > I know enough about them to spot a really shitty example. No, you don’t. Two things can have multiple characteristics that are analogous with respect to one set of characteristics and not analogous with respect to others. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trolls-left-behind/608868/58 "2012-01-09T02:57:57Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > It was a stupid idea. There is no need to infuse math with social studies concepts. Math is math. If you want to make it more relevant and, possibly fun, for the kids, structure the problems around things they care about-- candy, games and shit like that. It’s a perfectly fine idea. But it takes only a little bit of common sense to realize you don’t structure a math problem for elementary students in a way that amounts to calculating the details of crimes against humanity. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trolls-left-behind/608868/59 "2012-01-09T02:57:58Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > No, you don’t. Two things can have multiple characteristics that are analogous with respect to one set of characteristics and not analogous with respect to others. Yes, they can. But those other characteristics, if ignored, can certainly make the analogy less than perfect. Especially if those other characteristics are crucial to the point at hand. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trolls-left-behind/608868/60 "2012-01-09T02:58:08Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > The other questions I saw them paired with were also related to history. “Susan B Anthony was forced to pay a fine…”, or some such. Sounds like it was surrounded by [other generic questions](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2083734/If-slaves-pick-56-oranges--Georgia-school-racist-violent-math-homework.html?ito=feeds-newsxml). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trolls-left-behind/608868.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-trolls-left-behind/608868.md?page=4)