White Perspectives on Racism in FIRST

[gblake]

Originally Posted by smurfgirl

I'm glad to hear that Ed has had such good experiences in FIRST. I don't think his post changes my point - I can't accurately say whether or not racism in FIRST is widespread, or exists at all. I am not in a position to judge that.

I accept your self-assessment; but... What you wrote was more about "white people" than it was about yourself.

My point is that no one is in a position to to pre-judge what any other individual knows or doesn't know about racism within FIRST, simply because you know the color of their skin. Skin color is neither a necessary nor sufficient criterion.

Originally Posted by Madison

It doesn't matter what your experience or opinions on this matter are. The thread EXPLICITLY asks for the experiences of people of color.

The test for whether or not you should post in the thread is very straightforward. It goes like this -- "Am I a person of color?"

Madison - See my reply to Smurfgirl - I wasn't focusing on whether a person should or shouldn't put a message into the other thread, I was attempting to disagree with her about a different subject.

Blake

[JesseK]

I haven't seen outright racism, but I have seen socioeconomic disparities cause bias in how teams approach match discussions. Over the years I've learned to consciously be more inclusive, treating the underestimated teams like how I've learned to interact with introverts - sometimes with amazing results.

Originally Posted by Madison

The thread EXPLICITLY asks for the experiences of people of color.

To be fair, somewhat, the OP says "POC" - which in many worlds means Point of Contact. I had to double-read it to interpret and understand what specifically was being asked.