He points out that he's never been a woman, but he does know what its like to pursue a career in a field that defied the expectations of society. He tells the audience that when he would tell teachers he wanted to be a scientists, they would ask him why he didn't want to be an athlete. Tyson pointed out that a black kid choosing a field in science was "hands down the path of most resistance" and that it was only through a constant struggle that he got to where he wanted to go. He then wonders aloud about the many other kids who didn't make it, because of the societal forces that put up barriers for them at every turn.
There are a few problems with this line of criticism.
1.) It's not always clear that the student knows best what path he should take. There is a huge mismatch in the black community between objective measures of ability and perceived intelligence or capability. This manifests is students who are failing science and math declaring that they want to be physicians, engineers and scientists and actually believing that this is the career path that they're going to follow.
When a teacher or another adult tries to align the student's self-perception so that it matches demonstrated ability, they're not derailing the student from the path that was going to lead them to their dreams.
Most people are not so blinded by sheer racism, especially idealistic teachers who are putting their own skin in the game, that they can't recognize a capable minority student and so just fall on stereotype and squash that kid's dreams. What's more common is to observe the talented minority student and work like the dickens to clear his path for him.
2.) To expand on the path clearing aspect.
Sanders from UCLA did remarkable work in documenting his mismatch hypothesis. There are legions of do-gooders out there trying to clear the path for these kids and part of that path clearing is to lower admissions standards for university in order to give these kids a shot.
This tactic is, in effect, killing these dreamer with kindness. That kid who wants to be a lawyer, physician, physicist is given the shot but is now competing with kids who are so much better prepared and so much more intelligent and this results in the dreamer being a fish out of water who just can't live up to the standards and so he fails out, now saddled with debt and no credential.
3.) Even the psychometricians who design the SAT are doing so to remove as many obstacles as possible. The SAT actually OVER-PREDICTS the performance of blacks, thus invalidating any criticism that the SAT discriminates against blacks in some manner.
Here's my short summary - I don't believe Tyson's viewpoint is objective. I think it was colored by his own experience and I'm not confident that he correctly read the motives of those who questioned his goals. Instead of subtle racism being a roadblock to aspiring blacks, teachers are bending over backwards to help any who show promise.
"Before we start talking about genetic differences, you got to come up with a system that is equal opportunity. Then we can have that conversation."
I can't go along with the premise that we should start with an extremist creationist perspective before we entertain a balanced examination which includes genetics as an explanatory factor.