FIRST vs Free Speech
 

Flash back to March 3, 2016. My team (which will remain anonymous) was participating in the San Diego regional for FIRST Stronghold. All was well until a FIRST Volunteer pulled me aside while I was in the pits. He took issue with the political statement my clothing made and didn't let me back inside the pits until I changed. For reference, this is what I had on.

He told me he would've "let it slide" if it were any old other pair, but not with THAT person on them. He was Hispanic as well, I'm just including that because it's relevant information and he might have been discriminatory towards me because of that (I was wearing a button that said "BUILD THE WALL!" as well, courtesy of our button maker.)

His behavior left an absolutely rotten taste in my mouth and a lot of people on my team are concerned that this shows FIRST is leaning towards an Anti-Free Speech position. This seems really counter-intuitive considering FRC is supposed to help prepare you better for going into the real world; when you see somebody with an opinion you don't share, you can't just make them go away; you either talk it out, or you ignore that person. FIRST Volunteers should exemplify good behavior, not throw it out the window.

Also, if the moderators close this thread because it's 'uncomfortable,' then I guess we all know where they stand on free speech and open discussion.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Wear closed-toed shoes next time.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

That's pretty much irrelevant to the actual issue. If the volunteer had just told me that I couldn't wear open-toed shoes and I needed to get a new pair, I would've had no problem with it, but he just HAD to inject that message with a "I WOULD'VE let it slide if it fit my political beliefs." which not only shuns free speech, but also is detrimental to safety... If I were wearing a pair that he agreed with, he would've let me continue wearing them and then I injure myself?

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

I actually think this a good topic to bring up. I've gone into pits dozens of times without wearing safety glasses similar to the OP walking past the volunteers without wearing closed-toed shoes. Do we need to do more to ensure the safety rule are being enforced by the volunteers at the pit entrances?

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

(If I were in that position, I would be more concerned about the fact that they are flip-flops than what they say)

I don't think it's fair for you to take what this one volunteer said and try to pin it on FIRST as a whole. That's just not fair at all. That being said, I think the volunteer was overstepping his job description. I would have taken it up with the volunteer coordinator.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

The link takes me to a pair of flip flops, which might be a safety issue if you are wearing them into the pits. He probably saw them and was going to comment on how is a safety hazard and noticed the design and commented on how he disapproved of the candidate. How did he see what they said if you were wearing them?

I don't think that FIRST is anti-free speech, but that the volunteer just had a different opinion than you did.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

What one volunteer does, does not necessarily reflect the opinions of FIRST. Any person can volunteer at an FRC event. They get a little training and are thrown into whatever position they applied for. Its also worth mentioning what position this volunteer was in? Were they a safety adviser?

Next time just wear closed toe shoes.

If you have issues with a volunteer talk to the volunteer coordinator. With thousands of volunteers someone is bound to overstep their position. Its not FIRST's fault.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

To be totally honest, this strikes me as unlikely to be true.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

First of all, I'm sorry you had that experience. In the future, you should speak to a planning committee member and ask to speak to the Volunteer Coordinator. There's many ways they could handle the issue, including filing a Non Medical Incident Report, which gets handled by HQ after the event.

I'm surprised that you had flip flops on in the pit, more than anything. If the volunteer wouldn't let you back in because of the safety issue, that would make sense, but I agree the angle the volunteer took was not the best one.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

That's not an exact quote, obviously... Are you saying I'm lying?

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

I mean absolutely no disrespect towards the OP or her/his political beliefs, but I personally believe that what her/his button said goes against what FIRST stands for. I believe that FIRST strives for breaking down barriers and uniting people despite their differences, and wanting to build walls goes against that. Perhaps the volunteer that the OP mentioned felt the same way about what the OP was wearing.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

Please let's not start a political debate......

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

It's just kind of ironic that on a thread specifically about open discussion and freedom of speech, you try to shut down a discussion before it's even begun.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

I am not saying you're lying. I'm saying that I have a hard time imagining a FIRST volunteer saying something like that. I can imagine someone having a misunderstanding with a volunteer that left them with that impression, especially since you unequivocally can't go in the pits wearing those. But I don't know what happened. If it occurred as you say, that's awful and the volunteer needs a stern talking-to because that's not something they should be doing. Get ahold of the event's volunteer coordinator. That's someone who can actually do something for you.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

No volunteer would/should let someone wear flipflops in the pits. Period. Also did you take the flipflops off in the pits and show them to him? Not sure how he would be able to see what the design was through your feet.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

I also mean no disrespect towards you, but I find it quite the opposite: Gracious professionalism is a hallmark of FIRST, and "respecting the community" is a big part of gracious professionalism. Illegally intruding upon a country is a big disrespect towards whatever community you illegally trek into.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

We should discuss the idea of free speech and having your own opinion, but I do not believe this is the correct place to debate about the ideals of the presidential candidates.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

I think it best to keep political opinions to ourselves because then instances like this happen when people have conflicting views.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

Instances like what? There has been no disrespect over this entire thread between anybody, it's just a healthy discussion. Everyone is using proper manners, even when they disagree. Why do you think an 'instance like this' is undesirable?

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

Chiefdelphi is a Robotics forum. In fact to quote the site directly "This is a discussion forum used to discuss the FIRST Robotics Competition."

Talking about political views is a TERRIBLE idea here and frankly inappropriate. You are either a newly created Anon account or a first time CD user. If this is your first time here trust me in telling you a political discussion will turn sour very quickly.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

Hang on, how did this volunteer even see the political message on the flip-flops if you were wearing them?

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

What I mean by that is at competitions. It's FRC not a political rally hahaha! People will naturally have different opinions when you are in public so to avoid conflict I think it is best to not to publicly promote a political figure. At competition I just wear my uniform.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

Well, you could have just been sarcastic... :P
In all seriousness though, that sounds like a volunteer problem and not a FIRST problem, as others above have said.
That being said, wearing political clothing at comps is a little sketchy in general IMO, because competitions are a professional setting where you represent your team. But if your team is ok with it, as long as it's not blatantly offensive there's no point in making it an issue.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

OK, I won't bring up any current politics but I will bring the thread back to what it was originally about: FIRST vs Free Speech. I was told that the actions of one person should not represent all of FIRST, which I agree with.

But now everybody on here is telling me to hush-hush with how I believe this volunteer was behaving inappropriately, and surely everyone on here is part of the FIRST community. So now a group of people representative of the FIRST community are also trying to squash free speech. Doesn't this just prove exactly what I was claiming in the original post?

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

I was sitting on the table that's on the back wall of each pit, swinging my feet kicking them off and putting them back on again while waiting for our next match.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

No because he was commenting on having non-closed toe shoes on and had a differing opinion. That how I see it but others may see it differently.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

I don't think you understand what free speech is. They are not squashing your free speech they are requesting that we keep it civil and away from politics. If your free speech was being squashed then your posts would be gone. You by all means have free speech, does not mean that we have to listen to it or that you are free of repercussions due to your speech.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

I don't you think you understand what I'm talking about.

For one to be against free-speech, they don't have to be deleting posts and censoring information. The minimum criteria is that they express that they are against it. For example, if you were to say "I don't support free speech, and I don't think you should bring certain discussion here," you wouldn't be censoring me, but you would certainly be against free speech. After all, you would've said it.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

I got two questions for you:

1. Are you secretly affiliated with bad lard (some secret Bad Lard Coalition or something)?

and

2. What do you think about free speech in FRC China?

Warm Regards,
Smiti ::safety::

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

I'm no expert in Chinese affairs, but I think it's a shame that the Chinese government censors so much information, especially online. I don't know how that affects the FRC sphere.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

Ask team 3504 they hosted a Chinese robotics team for WVROX

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

FYI, free speech in the U.S. just means you won't be prosecuted for what you say*. It doesn't mean people have to agree with you or even tolerate you. HTH.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

I'm well aware. How does this post add to the discussion when somebody else already posted the same content? By repeatedly posting this, it's just an underhanded way of saying "I'm smugly disagreeing with you."

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

I'm posting it because you seem to not realize that you shouldn't be surprised by peoples' reactions to your public statements. Would it really surprise you that a person of Hispanic descent would not have a favorable opinion of you while wearing a "BUILD THAT WALL" button? Free speech doesn't give you a free pass to say whatever you want without repercussion.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

Hey Inovators Robotics we go to the Pittsburgh Regional together

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

Ignoring the fact that you just discreetly called every Hispanic who does agree with the statement an Uncle Tom, I wasn't surprised nor would I care if he has an unfavorable view of me. I'm focusing on what he DID, not whether or not he liked me.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

I'm smugly disagreeing with you.

If you have time to try and further a political belief at an FRC event, you clearly aren't busy enough and should focus on doing more for your team. Just sayin.

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

I'm not sure what post you just read. But good luck next year!

Re: FIRST vs Free Speech
 

You think that the 5 seconds it took me to put on a pair of flip flops should've been dedicated to my team? OK, I'll spend a bit more time working on the robot next build season.