FIRST Experiences as a Person of Color

[Shrub]

Hi CD,

Almost a month ago a post was made about Legion of Black FRC Participants (link) and (link) on CD, which I think is a great idea. Since then, I have been thinking about my experiences in FRC as a person of color and how they may differentiate between my white friends, as well as my friends who are also PoC. I wanted to create a thread for POC who have or are participating in FIRST to share their experiences and how these identities (and others they hold) intersect, and any other relevant comments they may have. I apologize if this thread sounds exclusionary to any.

Some links for relevant reading (Feel free to link some more!):
Inclusion in FIRST: (link)
This article (link) from Gender Equality: A Work in Progress: (link)
Women of color in STEM and bias: (link)
Editorial from Huffington Post: (link)

[Bgreen1591]

One thing is for sure, not a lot of people look like us at competitions or events. Only people that apparently do look like us are, music producers and retired basketball players...

[RoboMom]

FIRST hired for a new position in Sept. Inclusion and Diversity Manager. PM me if you want the contact.

[Monochron]

Originally Posted by Bgreen1591

One thing is for sure, not a lot of people look like us at competitions or events. Only people that apparently do look like us are, music producers and retired basketball players...

This was brought up by our RD last year. Having non-white judges and other officials as an example to non-white students is a priority and, I agree, could still use some work. I know there is effort being made in NC.

[Sperkowsky]

I think the diversity is much better in naturally diverse places. In lower NY we are naturally very diverse and the teams are by result.

[mrnoble]

Originally Posted by Sperkowsky

I think the diversity is much better in naturally diverse places. In lower NY we are naturally very diverse and the teams are by result.

This is true to an extent. FIRST has an up-and-down history with issues surrounding race, gender, ethnicity, and similar. Our team's first year (2004) was almost our last due to the way FRC organizers in our state attempted to "highlight" persons of color on our team, essentially treating our school and it's kids as a zoo with exhibits. It was insulting at best. We re-entered FRC two years later, when our concerns were addressed. The state leadership for the last five years (at least) is part of our community and are very much engaged in making FRC accessible and welcoming, and I have nothing but respect for them and their work.

I'm glad this thread is up, this is an important topic.

[jeser#1772]

This is a very interesting discussion

In Brazil we do not differentiate people, we just have Brazilians in Brazil

I remember answering the FIRST questionnaire about the percentage each ethnicity within the team and not actually knowing what to do...

I ended up spending a long time thinking what to answer and at the end I just ticked "other” and put "people" in the box, I also requested that FIRST did not ask me that again.

[Monochron]

Originally Posted by jeser#1772

This is a very interesting discussion

In Brazil we do not differentiate people, we just have Brazilians in Brazil.

A possible analog for you could be foreign students vs. local students. I think you would agree that it would feel very different to go to a competition in Brazil and have every judge, MC, and volunteer be a white American. Or if you came to America for a competition and those same people only spoke Portuguese and came from South America.
Diversity is important everywhere, though it is certainly more of an issue in some places than others. The reason I care about it is that I don't want minorities (whether that's females or other racial minorities) to see the STEM world as only inclusive of majorities or men.

[BRAVESaj25bd8]

Originally Posted by Monochron

This was brought up by our RD last year. Having non-white judges and other officials as an example to non-white students is a priority and, I agree, could still use some work. I know there is effort being made in NC.

I think this is a fair short-term solution, but I would propose one that may be better for everyone in the long run. What if instead of allowing students to search for role models (judges, officials, etc) who look like them, we teach them how closely they relate to people who do not look like them? I want every student to come out of a FIRST event feeling inspired to achieve personal greatness, which I think both of these approaches can do. Given the choice though, I would rather they learn to find similarities in seemingly dissimilar people rather than focus on the differences.

Then comes the tough part. How do you teach this lesson? I admittedly have not had to teach this on an individual level, let alone a grand scale like all of FIRST. However, I know there are a lot of smart and experienced people who may read this. Do any of you have success stories you can share?

[robochick1319]

I think this is a great idea for a thread but it simply went off track with people throwing around generalizations about racism and regional biases.

The point of this thread, as I understand it, is for people of color to share their experiences in FIRST and then compare those experiences.

So far though there hasn't been a lot of sharing of actual experiences. As a white person from the south (am I allowed to post??) I am very curious as to what experiences people have had. This isn't a conversation that happens in real life but I do believe there are important lessons that can be learned.

So to put it back on topic - if you are a mentor/coach/student of color, how has your FIRST experience been? Negative and positive stories included.

SN: Perhaps a poll would be helpful? People may feel more comfortable providing anonymous responses since many of us associate our accounts with our teams.

[Shrub]

Originally Posted by robochick1319

I think this is a great idea for a thread but it simply went off track with people throwing around generalizations about racism and regional biases.

The point of this thread, as I understand it, is for people of color to share their experiences in FIRST and then compare those experiences.

So far though there hasn't been a lot of sharing of actual experiences. As a white person from the south (am I allowed to post??) I am very curious as to what experiences people have had. This isn't a conversation that happens in real life but I do believe there are important lessons that can be learned.

So to put it back on topic - if you are a mentor/coach/student of color, how has your FIRST experience been? Negative and positive stories included.

SN: Perhaps a poll would be helpful? People may feel more comfortable providing anonymous responses since many of us associate our accounts with our teams.

Hey! Adding onto this, if anyone does not want to publicly post, they are free to PM and I can post it anonymously. I just really hope this thread can get back on track and remember that this thread is a thing now.

There is a very deliberate way I worded my introductory post in this thread. It is to hear experiences of POC because they are often not given a chance or platform to openly share there without people calling us too sensitive or preachy, or even worse things - just for sharing how we feel. I did not make this for people to discuss what they think racism is, or how they think racism manifests itself - especially when it is not in their position to do so. That's all.

Also, I don't think a poll would work @ this point but I could make a quick survey on my ride back to school tomorrow.

[robochick1319]

Originally Posted by Shrub

Also, I don't think a poll would work @ this point but I could make a quick survey on my ride back to school tomorrow.

I suggested a poll because I would be interested in seeing how prevalent this issue is in FIRST. Is this a case by case thing with sparse incidents or more widespread than we realize? A survey or a poll would allow people to report their general experiences in a safe, anonymous way. Perhaps that will then generate a more rounded discussion of what the issues are and how we as a community as a whole can improve the experience.

[FrankJ]

Originally Posted by Bgreen1591

One thing is for sure, not a lot of people look like us at competitions or events. Only people that apparently do look like us are, music producers and retired basketball players...

Not that many people make a big deal of his ethnicity, but Lonnie Johnson (inventor of the super soaker) is a supporter of First. I not sure if he is a judge, but he gave substantial speeches at the Peachtree & Georgia Southern Classic regionals. (past tense because we are going to districts next year.) He also hosts one of Georgia's DE fields at his research facility.

[tab1a]

I'm not sure if my experiences as an Asian in FIRST are relevant here, but I have noticed that at least in the Pacific Northwest East and South Asian are fairly well represented. However, our robotics team has barely any Hispanic and African American team members, which comes as no surprise as our state, Oregon, is one of the whitest. However, despite the fact that Asians are so well represented, micro-aggressions still absolutely take place on the part of white FRC team members which is something I hope will soon change.

[Katie_UPS]

I always wanted someone to start a thread about this but never felt it was my place to start one, so kudos to you for starting this. I too have noticed a lack of representation of PoC in first, both as participants and as guests/judges. It gets more bleak when you look for people who tick off multiple "diversity" boxes such as females of color.

It's definitely not any PoC's responsibility to educate white folk, but if anyone is willing, what are some ways we (non PoC) can be allies? What type of things would you like to see at events? Should volunteer coordinators try to focus on making a more diverse judging pane/volunteer crewl? Should we (the collective FIRST community) try to get more distinguished guests/speakers that are PoC at events?

I think the Legion of Black FRC Participants is a good thing. I hope it becomes a strong community much like FIRST Ladies has.