Math as a Civil Right
Voting rights advocate calls for mathematics literacy
Mathematics literacy is a new civil rights battleground, according to the renowned activist and political organizer Robert Parris Moses. Using the same ideas and methods that he once used to fight for voting rights in the South, Moses is working to increase access to quality mathematics education through the Algebra Project, a nationwide program that he founded.
Before the 1965 Voting Rights Act, many Americans were excluded from participation in their country’s democracy through laws that made literacy a requirement to vote. Today, Moses says, many young people are excluded from full participation in the country’s economy because they lack mathematical literacy.