Slavery Math

Math word problems of yesteryear that condones white racism or supremacism, such as the ungodly relationship between masters and slaves, lords and peasants, or colonizers and savages.

An 1814 issue of “The Analyst” poses the following slavery math problem: “If out of a cargo of 600 slaves, 200 die during a passage of 6 weeks from Africa to the West Indies; how long must the passage be that one half the cargo may perish? Supposing the degree of mortality to be the same throughout the passage, that is, the number of deaths at any time to be proportional to the living at the same time.”

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