I finally got around to reading some of ESR's writing and I feel sad and disappointed. I know that there are many people in the world with strong, negative feelings about people like me, but I didn't realize how interwoven those ideas are with the other communities that I interact with.

So, my question: am I welcome here?

It's tempting to write off these sorts of questions as being irrational or over-emotional; to say that facts don't care about your feelings. But of course, they do[0]. These issues are deeply cyclic, the way that we talk about them and the conclusions we draw feed back into the issues themselves.

I'm not trying to make any sort of moral judgement here - to say that anyone should change their opinions or the way in which they express them. But I'm coming, painfully, to understand why tech communities can feel so intimidating. And I know that, if I set my talent and passion aside and leave tech, I'll be seen by some as another example of how [X people] can't hack-it in the tech world.

Maybe you think you know better than I do what it's like to be me. You don't. You don't know me. But I wish you did. I'd love to get a drink with you and geek-out about dependent types and AI policy and the semantic web.

I know that HN isn't the place for political posts, but I hope that I can share my feelings about something that is both personal and relevant to this community without making a political statement. If there are others who have asked this same question, or have found an answer, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Cheers/

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bias