This is a bit unclear. Would you object to finding mediocre speakers from underrepresented groups just to boost representation? I imagine so, and so would I.
Would you object to, e.g., posting to a mailing list mostly for black or women developers to encourage applications (without any alteration to the subsequent application procedure)? Well, I can’t tell whether you’d regard that as ‘organic’ and unobjectionable, or inorganic and objectionable; I’d regard it as the former.
Does that mean that I’ve succumbed to the ‘woke mindvirus’? Perhaps, but even if I have, I’m not convinced that such terms are conducive to curing me of it.
If the reasoning behind him being selected for the keynote was his race, then it is a poor reason for choosing him - but that's a justification for rethinking the process for the selection of future speakers, not for changing the speaker after he's already been chosen.
Either way, the justification that a technical blog post caused "discomfort" to some of the team (what does that even mean?) is bullshit.
Well, thanks, I suppose.
> …allow it to work organically.
This is a bit unclear. Would you object to finding mediocre speakers from underrepresented groups just to boost representation? I imagine so, and so would I.
Would you object to, e.g., posting to a mailing list mostly for black or women developers to encourage applications (without any alteration to the subsequent application procedure)? Well, I can’t tell whether you’d regard that as ‘organic’ and unobjectionable, or inorganic and objectionable; I’d regard it as the former.
Does that mean that I’ve succumbed to the ‘woke mindvirus’? Perhaps, but even if I have, I’m not convinced that such terms are conducive to curing me of it.