Historical evidence reveals that Africans used math and science to build pyramids and navigate their way around the globe when Europeans still believed the world was flat.
However, today’s K-12 math grades of Black students reveal a vastly different reality—one that has people believing Black people simply can’t do math. For roughly six decades, Dr. Willie Taylor, a math professor at Texas Southern University, has stood as a reminder of the ancient math excellence Black people readily displayed in days past.
As a math professor with 50-plus years of experience, he soundly rejects the idea that Black people cannot master mathematics.
“That’s not true. But you have to study it. You do have to work at it,” said Taylor, a graduate of Prairie View A&M University. “People say they love playing sports and they’re good at basketball and football. That’s because they practice at it. It’s the same thing with mathematics. You practice at it, you study it, you look at it, you talk about it, and you’ll be good at it.”
Modern math numbers
But modern math states show more practice is needed.
The 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress results showed that nationally only 18% of Black fourth-grade students were proficient in math, compared to more than half of white students. For eighth graders, 13% of Black students were proficient, compared to 45% of white students.
Locally, Defender Education Reporter Tannistha Sinha reported on mixed math results.
“Math test scores in Houston ISD non-NES schools declined, from 42% of all students meeting math grade level in 2022-23 to 41% in the 2023-24 school year,” wrote Sinha. “Moreover, 39% met/exceeded the grade level. Overall, third-grade students in NES schools showed improvement in math test scores in all student groups, but those in non-NES schools who showed improvement declined or remained the same.”
But Taylor’s story, and the students he’s taught and mentored show that ancient brilliance today.
Taylor’s math journey
Taylor, a Houstonian through and through, graduated from HISD’s Worthing High School in 1962 before going to PVAMU to earn his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics.
Amazingly, math was not Taylor’s intended college major.
“I actually went to major in music because when I was here in Houston, I was part of a jazz combo and I played in the band and all that good stuff. I wanted to be a jazz composer, but Prairie View did not have a jazz music program,” said Taylor, who then had to shift gears.
“I didn’t want to just do the regular music program. So, I said, ‘I’ll just do math.’ And what I realized was both music and math are pattern-oriented.
“So, I decided to do the math thing,” Taylor continued. “And one day I saw my math professor sitting around drinking coffee and I asked him, ‘What do I need to do if I want to become a college professor?’ He said, you have to get a PhD in math.”
The result: After graduating from PVAMU, Taylor became the first Black male to earn a Ph.D. in math from the University of Houston.
“One of my advisors at Prairie View, her name was Evelyn Thornton, she was the first Black, actually, to get a PhD in math there. She got hers in 1973. I got my degree in 1974,” shared Taylor.
Family ethic
Before landing at TSU and teaching math from 1981 to the present, Taylor taught the subject at PVAMU and Texas A&M at Galveston. And everywhere he went, Taylor brought with him the family/community ethic that dominated life on “The Hill.”
“Up on ‘The Hill at Prairie View, because it’s just a lot of prairie out there, it was more family-oriented. We were closer because we didn’t have a lot of places to go. When I got to Texas Southern, you’re in a big city. People come in and run out because they’ve got the other stuff to do. One of the things that I brought when I came to TSU was to try to bring that closeness of a more family-type environment to the department,” said Taylor, who regularly and voluntarily came to campus most Saturdays and some Sundays to tutor and mentor students, bringing that family-feel to life.
Fellow mathematician and TSU professor Reverend Jacqueline Brannon-Giles is one of many Houstonians who appreciate Taylor’s impact as a Black man working in one of the STEM fields.
“Dr. Taylor was honored at TSU earlier this year for his outstanding contributions to the field of mathematics and to the profession of college instructors,” said Brannon-Giles. “Dr. Taylor not only deserves recognition for his stellar career, he is an example of the great math minds that Evan E. Worthing High School produced back in the 1960s.”
Paying it forward
And just as a math elder led him toward the Ph.D. path, Taylor has done the same.
Taylor inspired a part-time student to fully commit to math. That student, Roderick Holmes, graduated from TSU and then, like Taylor, earned his Ph.D. in math from UH. Holmes, also a Worthing alum, is now Taylor’s peer, as they both teach at TSU—at least for a few more months.
Taylor is retiring at the end of the 2024-25 school year, but not before leaving a legacy vehicle that will continue to produce graduates in math and other STEM fields.
STEM program to empower
Taylor pointed out that one of the major reasons Asian students are known for their math success is their approach to studying. That approach led to a game-changing TSU/UH collaboration.
“Researchers have found out that Black kids tend to try to do stuff on their own while Asian kids try to get together. So, that’s sort of what we did at TSU with what we call the LSAMP program (Louis Stokes Alliance Minority Participation Program). We bring Black students together in our Collaborative Learning Center. We want them to talk to each other, and discuss stuff. That makes it easier to understand coursework,” said Taylor, about the program that’s been in existence since 2002.
“The program just got approved again for another five years. It’s a great program where students get together and collaborate and they have to do a lot of other things: apply for internships during the summer and travel. It’s a great program. You have to be majoring in either mathematics, physics, chemistry or computer science.”
