> Many people, especially those in marginalized groups do feel less welcome. We know because they tell us.
It may not not stand out to you, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
I've spent years using StackOverflow. I've never seen any expressions of bigotry. One might get a hint of "group" based on linguistic style, but never have I seen bigoted comments based thereon. If someone feels unwelcome, it's either because they just feel that way without cause, or because of the content/tone of their comments - not their "group" - elicits such response.
1. overwhelmingly dominant gender of population (92.9% of SO population)
2. overwhelmingly dominant race and ethnicity categorization (74.2% of SO population)
3. overwhelmingly dominant sexual orientation (93.2% of SO population).
(I left this ambiguous on purpose to ensure that my point is about the homogeneity of the population and not the specifically dominant demographic group. If you want more information, you can look for yourself for specifics about which way the numbers fall here - https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2018/).
My point is that the stackoverflow population in general is very homogeneous by certain categories.
Instead of looking for evidence of victimization, imagine how easy it would be for someone belonging to a StackOverflow minority category to get discouraged by StackOverflows fierce gatekeeping, especially with the knowledge that stack overflow is so demographically unlike this person. From the point of view of the marginalized, evidence of group categorization isn't needed beyond that fact that "StackOverflow is very very X, and I know that I'm Y." Any sort of gatekeeping from this point on can feel very discouraging, even if this isn't the intention of those who are gatekeeping.
[edit for format]
If people choose to avoid a group, while that group in no way excludes them, why keep blaming the group?
So I'm not "blaming the group", but instead I'm trying to make the point that when the current SO system is paired with a homogeneous user base will, it probably naturally become more an more homogeneous for the reasons stated above, unless an outside force enters the system.
I would argue that this isn't about fault or blame or guilt, but instead about deciding whether or not to take action to make SO a more inclusive place, especially for those who may be predisposed to feel exclusion in the context of SO.
Perhaps that was a mistake; I'll reconsider next time around.
When you tell someone they're sick, or unwelcome, or subject to bias, and especially if you're a neutral source, they're liable to believe you. The mind is incredibly suggestible.
So how much of these feelings are because we keep telling people that racism and other issues are a problem? I understand the impulse to not dismiss the problem, but it seems like feeling like you're surrounded by racists has to be almost as bad as the real thing.