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Vote on Desiree Davidson's Story
Were they afraid we were planning a coup d'etat?
I spent my first summer during Columbia Law School at a firm in Philadelphia described as one of the best places in the city for black lawyers. I believed that if there was any place where I would have an equal chance at opportunities, be treated fairly and succeed, this would be it. There were three black female summer associates out of sixty that year but any time all three of us were in an office talking, one of the partners would knock on the door to see how we were doing. It happened too often to be a coincidence that sometimes we would purposely agree to meet in so-and-so's office to test our theory that we were being monitored. Like clock work, ten minutes after we would get together a partner would stop by.
Theodore Winters's Experiences
My dad was an engineer and dealt with racism on lots of levels. Whites told him, "I won't work for a n*****.
If you are a person of color or a woman, corporate America can steal a bit of your soul. It takes a certain kind of person to work in that environment. Once, I spoke at an African-American young professional association event and I told the guests, "Those of you who can work in corporate America and maintain a certain level of dignity, God bless you because it's not for me, I can't do it."
Being black in this country, we wear two masks, one which we wear when we are amongst friends and family and another when we are in the corporate world.
As a black money manager, I always felt like I had to be extra competent. I had to be better than the other money managers, not only to keep my job but for other younger minorities coming up behind me.
Once, in a meeting the owner of the mutual fund company I worked at said "Every one knows black people can't play quarterback.
I had just started working at my former mutual fund company when the Million Man March occurred in 1995 and even though I am not Muslim, a colleague of mine came into my office and asked, "Are you going to the Million Man March? Are you Muslim? What do your think of Farrakhan?" I replied, "You are not supposed to be asking me these types of questions.
I came across a racist email that was being circulated by my colleagues which was titled, "10 Things That You Know Someone is Black.
They'll let us sing and dance and pop and lock but they won't let us own the record companies. They'll let us play in sports but they won't let us own the teams.
The few jobs that they let us have we're trying to beat out each other for it. By creating competition amongst us they discourage us to mentor one another.
I actually sought out one of the few African-Americans in management at the automobile company I worked for.