The University of California-Long Beach is investigating a lecturer concerning an offensive question on the final exam related to gangs and race. One of the students who took the exam was offended and posted the test question on social media, hinting it appeared to be racist. Inside Higher Ed has the story.
The offensive question was: “Which of the following gangs generally do the least graffiti? A. Black. B. Asian. C. Hispanic. D. White.”
Of the 75 exam questions, this question garnered the most attention and now, the lecturer, Matt Fischer, is under investigation for this particular final exam question. However, when asked, Fischer said that he had presented the data in class, adding that he never intended to cause harm or grief for his students. The student who made the accusation was a black male and Fisher is a white male, which led to the racism claims on social media from the student’s account.
The Sacramento Bee newspaper analyzed crime data and found that crime rates related to gang violence were concentrated in minority communities in places such as Compton. The university spokesman said that the school takes this situation seriously and will use due diligence to complete their investigation
