Even exercise class turns out to involve oppression. Such, at least, is the message of a Barnard College lecture, “Health at the Expense of Cultural Appropriation: Yoga and Zumba” — part of a series meant to “engage students in intentional dialogues to explore their identities and what it means to foster inclusive communities.”

The claim that Westerners doing yoga is insensitive and ignorant has been kicking around for a while. (And is itself ignorant of how modern yoga actually evolved, but that’s another editorial.) But Zumba?

Yes, the aerobic classes are typically set to Latin music — that’s how the Colombian creator of Zumba invented it, while packaging the whole thing to sell to help people of all kinds get in shape. It’s a deliberate sharing of culture.

Not that you should feel bad about “appropriating” Latin music (or any other kind) for your own use — that’s how culture works.

But outrage at “cultural appropriation” is the hot thing on campus now, even though (or because?) it makes zero sense.

Dress even the most ridiculous charge of “injustice” up in the proper academic jargon, and you’ve got a grant, if not tenure.

The time, energy and cold hard cash that colleges devote to rank nonsense goes a long way to explaining why so many graduate deep in debt but unable to find a job.