You might have heard a surprising question lately: “Is math racist?” It’s a topic that shows up in news and online debates. To think about this, it helps to look at a powerful true story from history—a story about math, race, and how some of America’s greatest heroes were almost forgotten.
Our story starts during the Space Race in the 1950s and ‘60s, when the United States and the Soviet Union were competing to achieve firsts in spaceflight. Astronauts like John Glenn and Alan Shepard became household names, celebrated as brave pioneers. But behind these men were teams of brilliant minds making the math and science work. Surprisingly, a key part of this team was a group of Black women mathematicians.
At the time, the electronic computers we have today didn’t exist. Instead, NASA and its predecessor used “human computers”—people, often women, who did incredibly complex calculations by hand and with mechanical calculators. A number of these human computers were highly skilled Black women working at Langley Research Center in Virginia. They faced the double hurdle of segregation and sexism, often working in separate offices, but their work was essential.
The most famous of these women was Katherine Johnson. Her math skills were so outstanding that when John Glenn was preparing for his 1962 mission to orbit the Earth, he personally asked for her to check the orbital calculations made by the new electronic computers. He famously said, “If she says they’re good, then I’m ready to go.” Johnson and her colleagues verified the flight paths that launched Glenn into orbit and brought him back safely to Earth. They also did crucial work for Alan Shepard’s 1961 flight and even for the Apollo missions that later landed men on the moon.
Their job was highly technical. They programmed early electronic computers using a language called FORTRAN, one of the first programming languages that was closer to English than to the ones and zeros of machine code. It was cutting-edge work for its time.
This incredible history was largely unknown for decades. It was brought to light by the book and later the movie Hidden Figures, which followed the stories of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson. While the movie took some dramatic shortcuts, it succeeded in introducing millions to these women’s vital contributions. Astronaut John Glenn himself recognized their work, taking pictures with them and acknowledging their role.
So, what does this have to do with the question “Is math racist?” Today, you might see articles or discussions arguing that mathematics, or the way it is taught, can be biased or racist. In these modern debates, the popular media often overlooks stories like that of the “human computers.”
The story of these Black women proves that math itself is not racist. It is a universal tool. These women used math with extraordinary skill to achieve a national goal, despite working within a racist and segregated society. Their story is one of triumph through mathematics. By focusing heavily on the idea that math is racist, the media—sometimes called the “white liberal media” in the text—ignores powerful, true stories that show a different picture. It’s as if this positive history doesn’t fit the current media narrative.
Math is a field of knowledge, a tool. The story of the Black “human computers” at NASA shows that this tool can be mastered and used for greatness by anyone, regardless of race or gender. The barriers they faced were not in the math itself, but in the prejudices of the society around them. Their legacy is a testament to human potential. Perhaps the real issue isn’t whether math is racist, but whether we choose to remember and celebrate all the people, from all backgrounds, who have used it to shape our world. By forgetting stories like theirs, we lose a vital piece of history that can inspire everyone.
Paul F. Renda has spent over 40 years in information security. He studied physics and math at Queens College and the University of Houston, and he has worked as a system administrator for IBM Z/OS and Linux systems. He was also recruited by the FBI/NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force to provide open-source high-impact information.
Wrong Speak is a free-expression platform that allows varying viewpoints. All views expressed in this article are the author’s own.
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Racist math is one of the dumbest claims I've ever heard.