Neil deGrasse Tyson answers Summers [View all]

[SunSeeker]

Last edited Sat Apr 19, 2014, 07:38 PM - Edit history (1)

Neil DeGrasse Tyson Said What He Thinks About Race Now That He's Made It, And Almost Nobody Noticed

To set the scene, the (poorly posed) question is referring to comments made by former Treasury Secretary and Harvard University President Lawrence Summers, who suggested that genetic differences could explain why there are fewer girls in science. Yup, he really was Treasury secretary and president of Harvard.

Neil deGrasse Tyson's answer is, um, out of this world. There, I said it. Let me have this one.

http://www.upworthy.com/neil-degrasse-tyson-reveals-that-hes-been-black-his-whole-life-hilarity-and-wisdom-follow?c=reccon1

Scroll to the last 4 minutes of the video at the link for Neil's answer to the audience question. He recounts the struggles he faced as an African American wanting to be an astrophysicist and states that we first must create a system of equal opportunity before we can even ask the question of whether genetics play a part. The rest of the hour-long video has a pretty brilliant, humorous discussion of the issues involved in getting people engaged in science.