Missouri Students Were Given Math Assignment About Maya Angelou’s Sexual Abuse, Sex Work

A school district in Missouri drew wide condemnation online after social media users shared posts of a math problem that referenced author and poet Maya Angelou’s sexual abuse and sex work.

“CRAP BEING TAUGHT (TO) OUR KIDS – SICK!” wrote a Facebook user in an April 18 post that was shared more than 250 times in two days. Other versions of the image racked up thousands of additional shares across Facebook and Twitter.

The image shows two algebra problems attached to trivia questions based on Angelou’s life.

The first question asks students to fill in the blank to the following prompt: “Angelou was sexually abused by her mother’s ______ at age 8, which shaped her career choices and motivation for writing.” The second says, “Trying to support her son as a single mother, she worked as a pimp, prostitute and ______.”

This was indeed a real assignment given to high schoolers in the Lincoln County R-III School District in Missouri. The full image of the assignment shows additional questions about Angelou’s hometown and professorial career at Wake Forest University, among other topics.

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The assignment was given to around 60 ninth-grade students during the week of Feb. 14-18, the district’s community relations director, Audrey Henebry, wrote in an email to USA TODAY.

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