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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.
Norma Manfield's Experiences
As African American women, we are accustomed to putting white women at ease. It's not brain surgery for us. I was the only black woman in my organization. Even at my interview, I noticed that the board president was uncomfortable.
I was fortunate. I had an ally in my boss. While the board president was a woman who didn't always trust my abilities, my boss, a man, knew what I could do. We didn't have a managing director for a year, so he let me do it.
My boss was the first Jewish person to be president of the organization. He told me stories of things that happened to him. There were board members who would tell anti-Semitic jokes at board meetings and everyone would laugh.