  We describe a mainstream "universalist" approach to the understanding of
mathematics. We then conduct a systematic (but not exhaustive) review of the
academic literature on the decolonisation of mathematics and identify how this
challenges the universalist view. We examine evidence of whether the experience
of mathematics in the UK is systemically racist, examining both the decolonial
arguments and the empirical evidence. We find that there may be some benefit in
teaching the history of mathematics, but that this should be weighed against
the opportunity cost. We find some prima-facie evidence of discrimination in
the descriptive statistics on the representation of ethnic minorities in
academic roles in UK higher education.
