Re:Why Brit Ruby 2013 was cancelled and why this is not ok
by Camillo on Sunday November 18, 2012 @05:23PM
(#4801913)
> So in this case, some people decided they were uncomfortable with the level of inclusion. That's a fair conversation to have.
Certainly. But when the conversation turns into accusations of racism and a boycott (or feared boycott?) that ends with the sponsors running away and the conference being cancelled, it's a sign that the conversation has gone astray.
In fact, it's hard to even have a rational conversation on inclusivity in CS if we're already at the point where such things happen. We really need cooler heads to have a rational debate.
This isn't a conversation about being a programmer, however. This is a conversation about being part of a programming community. Successful assimilation into a community has numerous benefits for one's career prospects, social life and overall success. Exclusion can be correspondingly damaging.
As a result, programming communities all over the place are having a tough conversation: is this community sufficiently inclusive? Some are indifferent to the cause of inclusiveness. What's unfortunate is that those most indifferent seem so consistently to be those most already included.
So in this case, some people decided they were uncomfortable with the level of inclusion. That's a fair conversation to have.
(As it happens, while _why's true identity may have been a secret, his membership in the racial and gender majority group for his field is not:
https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q... )