> I don't think it's "fear of change" or "fear of people who are different" - not even "fear". I feel the sentiment felt is closer to "think poorly-of". Southern US racists certainly aren't "afraid" of black people: I believe they've been conditioned by negative racial stereotypes combined with their own sense of superiority ("blacks are lazy, no-good", "blacks are criminals", et cetera) so the idea of racial equality simply strikes them as silly - take that concept and apply it to today's debates: ("feminists are loud and unruly", "transgender people are freaks", "the other side are all fat women with purple hair who spend too much time complaining on their blogs instead of instigating real change"). I stress these are stereotypes, and certainly not representative, but doubling-down in response seems to reinforce certain negative stereotypes and make it harder to sell the idea of the "new normal".

Prejudice, like all elements of human psychology, is complicated but the longer you're around it the more you start to see distinct patterns emerge, each with their own rhetorical strategies. I think in this case it is fear because teacup50 only mentions the people who Rust is targeting with their outreach in passing and even implies that he agrees (or at least "doesn't disagree," whatever that means) with the goals of the effort. I see no evidence that he thinks of minorities, women, etc. as beneath him so it leads me to believe that he views the explicit effort of including them as an attack on the integrity of the community and - by implication - his own identity (let's assume ftm he's part of the Rust community but it could also be him lashing out because of the same thing happening elsewhere). It's not necessarily that the new people will make it worse, but that it is the process of bringing those people into the fold that will do the actual harm. It's defensive tribalism in its most fundamental form: fear, uncertainty, and doubt. I'd even hesitate to even call it prejudice - it's really more like a visceral reaction to a perceived loss of or attack on status - but in practice, the two are hard to differentiate and at some point you have to stop giving the person the benefit of the doubt and start calling a spade a "spade."

> I believe their concerns about the loss of "intellectual diversity" are genuinely felt - but frame it as someone who genuinely believes themselves and their opinions to be level-headed and that these new voices, who are telling them that their opinion are wrong, will of course put someone on the defensive, it's only natural to feel a creep of thoughtcrime policing.

I agree wholeheartedly. I distinctly remember several situations on the rust users mailing list and /r/rust where I felt that Rust team members (not the community but the official Rust team) went way too far into the realm of thoughtcrime policing to the detriment of the community. I've been waiting for him to bring those up as evidence of his position so that we can have a merit based discussion on how to avoid such mistakes in the future but he has done nothing but provide unsubstantiated opinions and hypothetical questions meant to lead someone towards his foregone conclusion (even though he frames it as doubt, another common but transparent rhetorical tactic).

> I hate to use a cop-out cliché but I feel that "both sides" need to apply empathy when engaging in debate with their opposition: those that feel out of place and get defensive, or simply think these are overblown matters, are not deliberately out to actually oppress anyone - and those campaigning for more equitable treatment are not being opportunistic.

Again, I agree wholeheartedly. This is an important conversation to have because otherwise, the entire process threatens to devolve into extreme multiculturalism for multiculturalism's sake. That is not only counterproductive but outright dangerous because it does nothing but polarize otherwise compatible groups of people. Every few decades our culture seems to hit that political correctness peak really hard which just causes another backlash from those who feel they are marginalized. The current (disastrous) political situation in the United States is clear evidence of that polarization and backlash - and it's not doing anyone a lick of good.

Even if I axiomatically disagree with someone's arguments, I am happy to engage and come to a middle ground where we make as many people as happy as possible just like I'd engage a flat earther who presents concrete evidence, if only to show him that he is misinterpreting it. However, just like most flat earthers, teacup has refused to provide any evidence other than a gut feeling and that is in no way a genuine attempt at constructive dialogue.

Or I could be dead wrong. He could just be playing a devil's advocate who is really, really bad at communicating.