FIRST Experiences as a Person of Color

[jman4747]

Originally Posted by Katie_UPS

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?

The number one thing anyone can do in regards to race is to not worry about it. Most Problems occur when some assumption about someone is made based on race. Think of skin color like pit scouting robots. What good elim pick list is based solely off pit scouting data?

As far as the current level of diversity in FIRST? More external factors seem to be at play than internal. From my perspective (African American) FIRST and the general community aren't doing anything particularly wrong and my experience has been generally positive. #1 reason you will or won't see someone of color on a FIRST team is where it is located. Who goes to the school. #2 is media. How many African American engineers or female engineers have you heard of? More importantly how often are they mentioned? If you never see it you won't think of it as an option. Then you're flooded with examples of every profession but engineering to seal the deal (mostly sports & entertainment).

[GeeTwo]

We are always striving to more aggressively recruit minorities who are less likely to show up for the team based on "generic" recruiting. Looking at our Facebook photo, which is our Bayou Blue Banner team photo, I see that no fewer than 5 of the 36 students and receent alumni in the photo would self-describe as non-white, and several others for whom I really don't know. Slidell is listed as 73% white, 16% black, 8% hispanic, and 3% others categories, and northern Slidell (SHS' district) is more predominately white than southern Slidell, so we're pretty close to representative. Only eleven were female, but they included a team co-captain, the drive coach, the human player, and a candidate for the most impressive freshman ever on the team. I believe that our smaller 2016 team has a higher percentage of minorities, both in gender and race. It has even become a bit of a team joke that whenever someone expresses that he or she is a member of a gender, racial, or other minority that the response is one of surprise (oh, you're black? and even on a few occasions oh, you're a girl?) but not concern. Honestly, most of our students don't care what race someone is, and several of the mentors are hustling to keeping up.

This year, we have started having "build" and "business" functions at different time, to make it clear that every team member should have a function on both sides. This was an intentional move to limit the "natural" migration of girls to "business only" functions, and inhibition of boys in serving in business functions. One of the truths that many of the mentors did not learn until after we were out of college is that a scientist, engineer, or mathematician needs to also be a bit of a salesman to prosper. The good news is that you can succeed without having to sell garbage - but it is essential that you can sell the ideas you believe in. OBTW, this same salesmanship in something you believe in helps our students become STEM ambassadors in the world, and you can't cut it much finer than this: being STEM ambassadors is what FIRST is really all about.

[Shrub]

Originally Posted by Katie_UPS

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?

Hey! I just wanted to chime in. I think a great way to begin allyship is becoming aware of, and developing language to combat microagressions, which were previously mentioned. In my experience, microagressions add another layer of stress to FIRST functions and events as I happen to check so many "diversity boxes". They're also hard to deal with when one is a token student with no idea how to explain why something makes them upset. Having an environment that challenges stereotypes and microagressions also becomes more inviting to students who may have been wary of the environment beforehand.

A second thing is to learn about "nerd culture," which can be elitist and exclusionary to those who are not constantly surrounded by it. It's also extremely common in FIRST due to the overlap of students into general nerdery - especially video games - and also robots. I'm not saying one has to dismantle nerd culture signlehandeldly, but becoming aware of how one may be exclusionary to others (and then learning how they can personally change that) is always good. NPR Latino recently posted a podcast about nerd culture that may be worth a listen (link, scroll down to Diversity in Geekdom). I don't have many links on the issue sadly.

Forcing or deliberately highlighting student diversity is often harmful to students, as is shown in mrnoble 's post. It's kind of like when college brochures try to include every minority in a photograph. This can backfire on team dynamics and the students who are being highlighted due to the "diversity boxes" they check.

[I'd also love to see more diverse judging and volunteer crews, but that's heavily based on the demographics of the area. Seeing speakers and guests that are also PoC is also really awesome whenever it happens. Even little things like the naming of Championship fields can go a long way-this isn't to say that only little things can work. These are all things that can only happen (or usually only happen) as collective communities, and I really wanted to focus on what individuals can do for allyship. I do not speak for all PoC, obviously.]

Thank you all for the positive messages so far as well!

[mrnoble]

I sure hope this doesn't devolve into a regional argument, or a bunch of us saying "I haven't experienced racism". A thousand people here can speak for this: I've been south, north, east, and west, within the United States, and I have seen racism manifested in the rural and urban areas of each region, sometimes in different ways, sometimes more or less subtly, but it's there. Racism exists in our culture. Okay. But we're not going to solve the problems of American society here; we are talking specifically about the culture of FIRST, and how it is experienced by persons of color, per the OP. I realize I'm setting myself up as an arbiter here, and I promise I'm stepping right down, but I'm pleading that we not go where it seems we are going. Please.

[Alan Anderson]

I'm not sure what some of you are responding to, but it doesn't seem to be relevant to what Samuel said about isolation contributing to racism. He notes that people from places without a lot of diversity tend to show racist attitudes, and the objections to his comment seem to say "I have experience with muticultural neighborhoods all over the place and the people there are not racist." That's not a contradiction. If anything, it lends support to his observation.

I see the same thing he does. The most strongly racist people I know grew up in a highly homogenous environment, where everyone looked like they did and came from where they came from and went to the same church they went to. A lifetime of experience with a "they aren't like us" mindset is not easy to overcome.

I myself struggle with prejudice against people who speak using a variety of English that I can't easily understand. Although equating intelligibility with intelligence might not be appropriate, it's something I find myself ready to do if I'm not careful. But I'm pretty confident that my upbringing hasn't given me a tendency to look differently at people based on their skin color, or eye color, or hair color, or body shape, or any such superficial quality.

[tab1a]

If you are white, please do not comment on how little racism there is in your region. There's no way for you to have experienced it first hand. This thread was made for PoC to talk about their experiences in FIRST as PoC.

[Mykey]

Originally Posted by tab1a

If you are white, please do not comment on how little racism there is in your region. There's no way for you to have experienced it first hand. This thread was made for PoC to talk about their experiences in FIRST as PoC.

You should be very careful about assuming a "white" has no experience with racism.

I can guarantee that racism is alive and well in this country.

In high school (Booker T. Washington/HSEP in Houston - Go Leopards!) I met some of the most wonderful people on this planet and received a first rate education. I was also was nearly killed by a group of three people who beat me to an inch of my life while yelling racial slurs at me. This did not drive me from the school or make me drop my friends (and girlfriend) because of the actions of a few idiots who superficially looked like them.

If you want open and healthy discussions about race then you must invite all people to participate.

The team I am running is over 90% Latino/Hispanic, ~5% white, and 100% the same race. We need to start with our similarities and minimize our differences.

So I look forward to hearing from those who wish to speak up. I am always wanting to have my horizons expanded.

[Madison]

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[Katie_UPS]

Originally Posted by Mykey

You should be very careful about assuming a "white" has no experience with racism.

I can guarantee that racism is alive and well in this country.

In high school (Booker T. Washington/HSEP in Houston - Go Leopards!) I met some of the most wonderful people on this planet and received a first rate education. I was also was nearly killed by a group of three people who beat me to an inch of my life while yelling racial slurs at me. This did not drive me from the school or make me drop my friends (and girlfriend) because of the actions of a few idiots who superficially looked like them.

If you want open and healthy discussions about race then you must invite all people to participate.

Alright, just in case I'm putting my foot in mouth, I'm assuming you are white. If you aren't, then I'm making a complete arse of myself- a risk I guess I'm willing to take.

What you experienced was awful and I'm not trying to minimize the pain and suffering you went through. But it's not racism. Racism is the systematic oppression of PoC by white people through a social structure where white people have power and privilege over non-whites. Racism is not just someone making a racial slur, but the problem where applicants with "black" sounding names are less likely to get hired than John Smith with the exact same resume, or a whole host of similar situations (black people being followed inside stores by staff more frequently than whites, etc).

Did you experience bigotry/prejudice/hate based off your skin color? Yes. That's wrong. I'm not saying it isn't. I'm sorry you had that experience and I understand that you won't be happy with me saying that's not racism. I am saying it was still wrong, I want to make that clear.

The team I am running is over 90% Latino/Hispanic, ~5% white, and 100% the same race. We need to start with our similarities and minimize our differences.

I just... This is white-washing your students. They aren't 100% the same race. Their racial identity has -in both negative and positive ways- shaped their life experience. To say that they're all the same is to deny them their experiences. I know what you're trying to get at, that you're one team and race doesn't affect how you view your students: that's great! But that wording feels off.


White people want to walk about racism, but we really have little to add to the conversation especially when PoC are a part of the conversation (which they should always be). In these conversations we should focus on listening because we don't experience systematic racism.

(I realize I'm writing a bunch while also saying we -myself included- need to be listening more)

Reading: explaining white privlidge to a broke white person
8 things white people should know about race (I'm not particularly pleased with the click-bait title, but the article brings up a lot of good points and links to further reading. It's also easier to read/digest than a more scholarly article)

[Monochron]

Originally Posted by tab1a

If you are white, please do not comment on how little racism there is in your region. There's no way for you to have experienced it first hand. This thread was made for PoC to talk about their experiences in FIRST as PoC.

I'm not responding directly to you tab1a.

But can we stop with the discussions about whether or not certain things or people are racist and get back to discussing minority POC experience within FIRST?
Maybe some suggestions about how to beter represent the diversity in our home areas? Or if we think a concerted effort to increase the amount of POC judges/volunteers at an event will have a positive impact on minority perception of what we do?

[GeeTwo]

Originally Posted by tab1a

If you are white, please do not comment on how little racism there is in your region. There's no way for you to have experienced it first hand.

Do not tell me I have not experienced racism firsthand because I'm of European descent. I've been beaten up and denied scholarships, among many lesser offenses, for no reason other than that I'm white. If you believe that violence and discrimination against someone on the basis of race is not racism because the victim is of the majority race, you need to look at the world more honestly. I will say that I have never directly witnessed racism within FIRST, against myself or another of any race.

Edit: My advice in the future is not to attempt to create an exclusive conversation on a public forum. I'm going to add this thread to my ignore list now.

[Dave McLaughlin]

Originally Posted by tab1a

If you are white, please do not comment on how little racism there is in your region. There's no way for you to have experienced it first hand. This thread was made for PoC to talk about their experiences in FIRST as PoC.

How is this post acceptable?

[Madison]

Originally Posted by Dave McLaughlin

How is this post acceptable?

It's a reasonable request in the same way that creating threads for women to share their experiences is.

I am flabbergasted (but not remotely surprised) that people cannot manage to honor that request.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

I'm not sure what some of you are responding to, but it doesn't seem to be relevant to what Samuel said about isolation contributing to racism. He notes that people from places without a lot of diversity tend to show racist attitudes, and the objections to his comment seem to say "I have experience with muticultural neighborhoods all over the place and the people there are not racist." That's not a contradiction. If anything, it lends support to his observation.

I see the same thing he does. The most strongly racist people I know grew up in a highly homogenous environment, where everyone looked like they did and came from where they came from and went to the same church they went to. A lifetime of experience with a "they aren't like us" mindset is not easy to overcome.

I myself struggle with prejudice against people who speak using a variety of English that I can't easily understand. Although equating intelligibility with intelligence might not be appropriate, it's something I find myself ready to do if I'm not careful. But I'm pretty confident that my upbringing hasn't given me a tendency to look differently at people based on their skin color, or eye color, or hair color, or body shape, or any such superficial quality.

The difference between what you are saying and what Samuel is saying is that one is a valid statement, the other is no different than racist remark.

When you say "people with no experience with other groups have to rely on stereotypes" I can't argue, that's completely true. When he makes broad sweeping generalizations about entire geographic regions I have to object because it's no better than making sweeping generalizations about entire creeds, colors, genders, or sexual orientations.

[Shrub]

Originally Posted by mrnoble

we are talking specifically about the culture of FIRST, and how it is experienced by persons of color, per the OP...

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