Geometry, developed by ancient Greeks, promotes ‘white privilege,’ U of Illinois prof claims | Washington Times - Culture

Photo: Rochelle Gutiérrez

‘On many levels, mathematics itself operates as Whiteness’ says Rochelle Gutierrez, Maths Ed Professor.

Teaching the Pythagorean Theorem or pi in geometry class perpetuates white privilege by giving the “perception that mathematics was largely developed by Greeks and other Europeans.”

Building Support for Scholarly
Practices in Mathematics Methods

That’s what Rochelle Gutierrez argues in her new anthology for math teachers, “Building Support for Scholarly Practices in Mathematics Methods.”

The University of Illinois professor says teachers must become more aware of the “politics that mathematics brings” to society.

“On many levels, mathematics itself operates as Whiteness,” Ms. Gutierrez writes in the book, reported Campus Reform. “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.”

Mathematics also perpetuates white privilege because the economy places a high value on abstract reasoning.
Read more... 

Recommended Reading

Photo: Rochelle Gutiérrez

UI defends professor after book chapter draws attention by Debra Pressey, Reporter at The News-Gazete. 
"A book chapter written by a University of Illinois education professor who contended that mathematics operates as an unearned privilege in society, "just like Whiteness," is attracting a flurry of attention." 

Source: Washington Times