Being a 19-year-old black software engineer, from a "current reality" POV, I can say that acadien's observation is definitely spot-on. However, I can also say that it seems things are getting much much better. Just a little under 3 years ago, I'd attend a conference with 300, 500, or even 500+ attendees, and would EASILY count the amount of black folks on a pair of hands (yes) and the ladies on 2-3 pair of hands. This isn't necessarily the case anymore (it's still kind of a problem though). Also, a majority of the "white men" programmers I know in the industry are very welcoming and helpful in this sense, so I wouldn't blame "white men" since that's just too general, and quite frankly, wrong, for the most part. Now that that's out of the way, THERE ARE those "white men" who are not so welcoming and aren't afraid to show it either. I couldn't even tell you the amount of times I've been offended by such folks. There's even one conference I went to where I was literally stopped on my way to grab lunch and randomly requested to go to security to be searched while EVERYONE ELSE was enjoying the sessions and meals. I was searched, I went to bathroom and cried for a while (yes, I admit it), and immediately headed home afterwards. Which conference ... well, I digress. The point I'm trying to make here is that we shouldn't be blaming folks in a general sense, but instead find those folks who do have such behavior and try to help them change.