Mathematics as a tool of oppression in the United States

Abstract

Recent politicization of mathematics has driven questions about its pedagogy in U.S. schools, but these questions fail to recognize mathematics as a potentially oppressive tool. In this essay, I demonstrate that there are much larger forces at play and that improving the way people think about mathematics and how people regard it in their lives are much more valuable. Here, I briefly explore three distinct eras of mathematical development that yielded three distinct cultural responses. First is Fibonacci, whose work was generally accepted and steered clear of criticism. Next is Galileo, a mathematician who faced significant pushback and whose research and progress were halted and banned. I then examine the United States and highlight a government’s ability to wrest control of mathematics structures absent the ability to completely stifle publication and research. I will draw an arc through these three distinct eras to conclude the most effective way to dismantle mathematically-based power structures: a mutual effort to flatten hierarchies that equally involve those in power and those at the mercy of the structure itself.