FIRST Experiences as a Person of Color

[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.