A professor of mathematics education at the University of Illinois, Rochelle Gutierrez, has recently claimed in a chapter that she contributed to an anthology designed for mathematics teachers that math is, in effect, “racist.”

To be more precise, math promotes…“Whiteness.”

“On many levels,” Gutierrez writes, “mathematics itself operates as Whiteness. Who gets credit for doing and developing mathematics, who is capable in mathematics, and who is seen as part of the mathematical community is generally viewed as White.”

She elaborates: “School mathematics curricula, emphasizing terms like Pythagorean theorem and pi perpetuate a perception that mathematics was largely developed by Greeks and other Europeans.”

Moreover, “mathematics operates with unearned privilege in society, just like Whiteness.”

Gutierrez laments that we regard mathematics “as if it is a natural reflection of the universe,” occurring “outside of human influence,” “encoding the universe with eternal truths, a natural order of things that should not be questioned.” Thus, “mathematics is viewed as a version of the world that is proper, separate from humans, where no emotions or agendas take place.”

According to the leftist frame of reference this professor embodies, everything is social and political. That’s why entertainment, sports, comedy and just about everything else is now politicized. “Climate science” is the product not of science and reason, but of politics.

So it probably should not come as a surprise that mathematics is now political. And because mathematics is associated with “whiteness”, it automatically and always makes it wrong and bad.

Yes, it’s insanity. But the University of Illinois is a respected university. Try firing or even criticizing Rochelle Gutierrez for such insane idiocy and see how far you get. See if her madness stops the flow of federal funds going to fund such absurdity, funds without which there would be no absurdity, because few if any would buy it.

Notice the unstated premise behind this politicization of mathematics. Knowledge is now the product of one’s race, not of objectivity and reason. If you’re white, and I’m black, then our reasoning is hopelessly and irreconcilably different. Whiteness leads to “white reasoning” which in turn leads to things like math — which is bad, because it’s white. What does blackness or Hispanic-ness lead to? It’s never said. I guess whatever it is, it’s not mathematics. This means the laws of science, which rely heavily on mathematics, are not open to the minds and brains of people who are not white.

And she’s calling the people who advocate math racist?

Parents and graduated students struggle to pay off loans totaling tens of thousands of dollars for this crap. It’s no wonder people like Bernie Sanders want to forgive those loans and make all college tuition free. Because if this is what passes for higher education, it’s a whole lot worse than worthless.