Just one point. You don't need motivation to speak at this particular conference. You, and anyone else who aren't in a small group of white males, were not given the opportunity to speak.
Really? If I had built up my profile in the ruby community, gave regular talks at conferences etc you're saying that I wouldn't have been given the opportunity to talk? That they would specifically turn down proposals for non-white speakers regardless of their standing in the ruby community?
By this argument why isn't anyone arguing the corner of transgenders, Native Americans and people who think that the original Battlestar Galactica was better than the re-imagined series?
As part of the linked article, it was revealed that many people who are not white, or not male, but who were prominent and very qualified to speak, and available to speak, simply weren't invited in the initial list of 15.
In other words, they sat down to draw up a list, and out of a large and diverse community of Rubyists, invited only the white male ones. No one is saying they did it consciously or deliberately, but they did it, and got some push back on it, and /ragequit their own conference. So, no, you wouldn't have been given the opportunity to talk.
(And btw, fuck you for the phrase "white people's collective guilt" ;)
