No Apologies!

Harvard President Larry Summers apologized for making remarks suggesting that women do worse in math and science because of inherent biological differences.

I hate public apologies. Public figures say truly revolting things all the time and whenever it happens, a quick apology functions to end discussion on the topic, even when further discussion may actually be healthy. Famous people are, after all, real people, too. Real people say revolting things all the time. The truth is that revolting beliefs about gender, race, class, ethnicity and nationalism are actually quite pervasive and are a very real part of who we are as a society and a world. Instead of using it as a springboard to talk about the underlying social problems and conflicts that their statement might highlight, we get a quick apologize, a recognition that they've violated the norms of public discourse, and we move on as if nothing happened.

So why would a wealthy, educated, successful white man like Larry Summers say that women are biologically inferior to men when it comes to math and science? Is there such a disparity? What else might cause this disparity? Do other people agree with Summers? We don't need to have this discussion though - he apologized!