Cal State professor under fire for racially charged exam question

A California college professor is being investigated for a bizarre health exam question that asked which race is least likely to vandalize.

The question appeared on a Health Science for Secondary Teachers final exam at California State University Long Beach, according to postgraduate student Alex Rambo.

“Which of the following gangs generally do the least graffiti?” the question read, with the multiple-choice answers provided as: “A. Black, B. Asian, C. Hispanic, D. White.”

Rambo, 31, said he and his classmates could not recall ever talking about gangs or gang violence during the course.

“We don’t know what data or statistics this question is actually based on or referring to, either,” Rambo told The Post.

The class was taught by Matt Fischer, a part-time lecturer at the university for 16 years, according to his LinkedIn profile. Fischer told the Long Beach Press-Telegram that the question “wasn’t meant to be racist” and apologized for offending his students.

Rambo, who is African-American, said the question was not the only “uncomfortable” experience he had with the professor, who is white.

“There were times he would call me ‘Big Dawg’ or some of the female students ‘sister-licious,’ ” Rambo said.

Jeanette Ruiz, 23, who is also in the class, thought the question “created a misleading narrative about people of color.”

Ruiz told The Post that Fischer emailed an apology and tried to rationalize his intention for asking what she called a “culturally insensitive” question.

A spokesman for the university said that Cal State Long Beach takes the allegations seriously and has initiated an investigation, the Press-Telegram reported.

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