Math is Not Racist

At a time in our nation’s history when seemingly anything may be called “racist” some of us hoped objective truth might survive. There were even satirical memes joking about how math would soon be labeled racist. But all joking aside, in the summer of 2021, an article appeared describing math’s “White, Patriarchal Past.” This article didn’t appear in an op-ed, but was published by Scientific American, a magazine in publication since 1845 that has drawn contributions from no less than Tesla and Einstein. A bastion of presumably scientific thought and rigorous dedication to evidence used its credibility to launch an attack on math, perhaps the only discipline still widely considered to be free from politization.

I could write a lot engaging this article’s particular claims and defending math. But I want to limit myself to one primary consideration for the time being. And that is an attack on objectivity itself. The mere claim of objective truth or knowledge is now widely labeled as being racist. And math, as an objective discipline, is considered racist to the extent it considers itself objective.

I shouldn’t have to say it, but I will: Math isn’t racist. Objective truth isn’t racist. And if we want to improve education we have stop allowing it to be held hostage by ideologues.

To say “objective truth is racist” is to make an objective truth claim. To deny objective truth exists is to assert an objective truth. You cannot attack objective truth without engaging yourself in contradiction. When someone asserts a contradiction they are engaged in peddling nonsense. We should disregard a contradiction the same way we should disregard claims about squares with no corners or triangles with two sides.

Objective truth exists; indeed, it is impossible for it not to exist. Math is a system of logic, one that is vitally important for training the mind in abstract thought, for appreciating beauty, for technological applications, and for knowing God in all the ways He has revealed Himself. Psalm 19:1 reminds us the heavens declare the glory of God and the skies show forth His handiwork. We model the galaxy (AKA - “the skies”) mathematically. Many physicists have described mathematics as the language of God because of how magnificently numbers correspond to the created world.

At Emmanuel Christian School, we are not shy about truth, and we certainly don’t think math is racist. Mathematics is a human endeavor, and as people created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26) we should embrace it and even love it. This requires a strong foundation in arithmetic that leads to mastery of elementary operations. Students then move on to study algebra, geometry, pre-calculus or trigonometry. And we don’t seek to have students merely practice equations, but to understand proofs and the logic of mathematics itself.

The study of math is hard, there’s no doubt about that. That’s why learning requires courage, thus we encourage our students to “Do Brave Deeds and Soar!”