Matthew Curran, Teacher at Lenape Middle School in Bucks County, Pa., Under Fire for Racist Cartoon on Math Worksheet

It is absolutely inexcusable that any school could use such a reprehensible picture on any worksheet to educate children. This disgusting picture appeared on a work sheet used by a teacher at Lenape Middle School in Bucks County, Pa., called "Solving Equations using Multiplication and Division!" and it featured a photo of a black man wearing a straw hat, shirt and suspenders, with his mostly toothless mouth wide open. As if to underscore the man's stupidity, at the bottom of the picture was written, "No wai!!!" A parent discovered this picture when she was helping her son with his homework Saturday night.

The mother learned that her son, the only black student in his eighth-grade pre-algebra class at Lenape Middle School, was teased by another student when the assignment was distributed. "One of the kids in the classroom turned around and said, 'Is that your father?' " she said.

"We are highly insulted and offended. We sent him to school to learn pre-algebra. He should be protected from this stuff, not have it thrown in his face...He gets enough (racial slurs) and negativity from the kids. To have the teacher encourage it?"

Both the mother and her son are black. On Monday, the student stayed home from school and his mother called the principal first thing in the morning. Source: Philly Burbs

What is equally unconscionable is the fact that the math teacher, Matthew Curran deliberately chose to use this picture. A school district spokeswoman said that Curran frequently uses photos and other illustrations on his work sheets to engage the students and said he found the image by doing a Google Images search for the phrase "multiply and divide."

"I chose it because it said 'no way,' which is a comment my students make when I require them to show each calculation," he wrote in an e-mail. "I had no idea that I might offend anyone. I am very sorry for any distress that this has caused my students and the community."

A Google Images search for "multiply and divide" provides other images that might be considered more math-related - a cartoon drawing of a child holding math symbols, a cartoon calculator with legs and various photos of calculators. Source: Philly Burbs

This is a disgrace and it is continued proof that racism is alive and well in the U.S.A., no matter how subtle. This teacher should make a public apology to the entire school. This picture was deeply offensive and racist.