Hacker News Reader

Comment by nilved | Hacker News Reader

Literally every other coding event is "white men code," so don't get so flustered when there's one single one that's not for you.

I expect better from Hacker News.

View on HN

That's incorrect. Just because the audience is mostly white men does not mean that others aren't welcome or that they feel unwelcome. It just means that more white guys showed up that non-white guys.

Reply to child:

Now you're essentially calling white males racist, but the comments in this thread have nothing to do with how white men feel about other genders and races.

I have never been to an event wherein I've seen anything but positive vibes towards all people attending.

If you've read this thread top to bottom, you can surely see how nonwhite nonmen don't exactly feel welcome.

Cry me a river. It's nobody job to hold your hand and to make you feel welcome. If the default is "white guys hating on everyone else", that would indeed be bad for the environment. But, if the default is "I am here to code, and I really couldn't care why you're here," then it's nobody job but your own to make the environment into what you want it to be.

Response to child: No, by bringing more black girlfriends to a hackathon they would make an environment friendly. By creating a segregated event, they are pretty much saying they can't deal with mixed events, and have to kick everyone else out in order to create an enjoyable environment.

> it's nobody's job but your own to make the environment into what you want it to be.

Isn't that what they're doing by creating an environment for black girls?

But it offends white people by bringing up race. They really would just rather not talk about it.

Actually, a lot of them do feel unwelcome.

"I have never been to an event wherein I've seen anything but positive vibes towards all people attending."

You're a man, aren't you

Yes, and a white one at that, but I sit next to and chat with men and women of all races, and I watch the same occur in chairs/tables next to me. I've never seen anything that indicates white men are making others feel unwelcome.

Perception does not indicate reality. If you feel unwelcome and don't participate because of that, there's not much I can do to help you.

I'm a white male too and yes, you're right, "perception does not indicate reality."

Care to offer a counter example that you've personally witnessed?

you're not seeing the point here...

I am. You're saying that because we're white, we can't see it. I could make the same argument about God or elves or unicorns.

The fact is that just because someone feels unwelcome does not mean they are unwelcome. But that's neither a problem with the event nor the people in it.

No, we're saying that because you're socially oblivious and ignorant of historical and contemporary context you can't see it. Privilege is a contributing factor, but there are plenty of white men who are capable of seeing when they're being exclusionary.

This comment bleeds hatred and bigotry, and I'm sorry, but I'm not going to allow it to go unnoticed and unchecked.

Please name one behavior by the average 'privileged white man' that is inherently exclusionary. I bet you can't.

I'll answer your question: whiteness is exclusionary by definition.

You're not going to "allow" the comment to go "unnoticed and unchecked"? Please. What are you going to do? White-men-in-general are going to be talked about in a negative way. I welcome it. Hatred is warranted when it's hating the oppressors; it's called "punching up."

And it doesn't even matter if you scoff at that language, which is the great part, because people are quickly realizing that, for example, for all the celebrity surrounding the non-violent Nelson Mandela, he was ultimately a utilitarian when push came to shove...

That is a bloody lie! Every other even is perhaps "men code" because indeed there are not many women who come out, but still, some do. I don't know what events you go to, but I always see a good mix of guys of all races and colors.

Well looking at the industry overall, I'd be surprised if the conferences met national averages in terms of overall diversity. But why do that when we have a "good mix" according to the dominant group.

An event which is free for all is not a white men code event, even if most of the participans were white men.

You are demonstrating unfamiliarity with the difference between de jure and de facto. When people of other demographics feel uncomfortable being there because the audience is predominantly white and predominantly male, it is effectively exclusionary even if there isn't a single word to the contrary.

That doesn't make it your fault. It does mean it's something you have to make a real effort to understand and accept in light of the privilege you have.

>When people of other demographics feel uncomfortable being there because the audience is predominantly white and predominantly male, it is effectively exclusionary even if there isn't a single word to the contrary.

Do black people feel uncomfortable being with white people? That sounds racist and segregatory. We shouldn't turn all events into equal distributions, we should instead make people feel comfortable with being with all kinds of other people.

Many black people feel uncomfortable in environments dominated by white people because of the cultural and social domination by white people, both historically and in the current day. I don't understand why this is so difficult for you to understand.

An event at which the participants are mostly white men will cater to the wishes of white men.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com