KANGAROOS TRIGGER STUDENTS – I apologise on behalf of Australian fauna:
Three students at the University of Wisconsin, Madison filed bias reports after taking a statistics test in the spring semester that contained a question describing kangaroos jumping a border wall into the U.S.
Esmeralda Tovar, Alan Meza, and Cesar Andrez Aguilar, who are described as Mexican-American students, filed bias reports on their statistics professor over the question, which they deemed “insensitive” and “humiliating,” according to The Badger Herald.
The test question, which was administered on April 5, read:
The federal government plans to build a wall with height 6.5 feet along the U.S.-Mexico border to prevent kangaroos from jumping into the county. The project manager wants to know how high the kangaroos can jump. Ten kangaroos are randomly selected and each of them is tested for the jump heights…
Meza reported feeling scared when a teaching assistant and two students laughed at the question while reviewing the test in class.
“What’s the common phrase that’s used when people try to [cross into the U.S.]? ‘Jump the border,’” said Aguilar. “When I saw the word ‘kangaroos,’ it suddenly felt humiliating — it was humiliating for the people, the little kids that sacrifice their lives trying to make it across the border. It dumbfounded me.”
You’re not alone Cesar; I’m dumbfounded too. Perhaps next time the test question should read “Ten snowflakes are randomly selected…”
