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OK, but what can be done then to avoid this "poor appearance" exactly? The black speaker pulled out. It's their decision to make. What can be done?

• epistasis 3y ago
  Continue on with the conference, learn from the current situation, and try again in the future. That's why I'm encouraged that this conversation is happening, because it's the path to the better future. The only really wrong response to this would be to shut down, close one's mind, and decide that the problem is the controversy itself, rather than the greater social situation of which this conference is just one small part. It's a programming language, it's not meant to solve social problems, after all. But governance and social structures are inherent to programming languages, and they should try to fit into the larger social structure of society (around the world) and if they want to be widely adopted, learn to appeal to wider and wider audiences.
  • pdimitar 3y ago
    > It's a programming language, it's not meant to solve social problems, after all. But that's exactly what I'm saying as well. Not sure there's something to learn, that's what's confusing me here. Black people didn't attempt to speak at a Rust conference. Well... OK? What's there to learn from that? As far as I'm aware, the Rust community is one of the most diversify-friendly ones out there already.
  • mwcampbell 3y ago
    But wouldn't the best way to appeal to a wider audience be to avoid the controversy and focus on the technical? We know how off-putting the drama can be, e.g. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36104163 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36104163