Merry Christmas! I hope that Santa brought you everything you wanted this year. I wrote that greeting because it’s December 25th, and I live in the United States. According to Pew Research Center, nearly three-fourths of Americans identify as Christian. While I don’t identify that way, it’s not unusual for me to say “Merry Christmas.”…
Month: December 2016
Make Americans Great Again
Nearly eighty years ago, Glinda the Good Witch told us all how to get back home again: “You don’t need to be helped any longer. You’ve always had the power to go back to Kansas.” The Electoral College meets tomorrow. Barring a truly historic rebellion, the College will finalize the election of Donald Trump to…
How to Be a Proper Ally (Don’t Expect Roses)
I am a white male. I am also a feminist and a black rights comrade. I have something to tell any of my fellow white males who want to join the fight: Don’t expect to be trusted by everyone you’re trying to help. In the wake of the election, there seem to be many of…
Secant to a Circle
What is the equation of a line that is secant to a circle with radius \(r\) and center \((0,0)\)? This question started as a challenge with a student. She wanted to draw a pentagram on a graphing calculator, and while she could do the five lines freehand, she needed the equation of a circle. So…
Overcoming Our Racist Upbringing
I am a white American, born a year after the Detroit riots and a month before the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As a child in Pontiac, Michigan, I was bussed from my mostly-white neighborhood to a mostly-black elementary school as part of a legally-compelled experiment in desegregation. My family moved not long…