Browse Stories
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.
Amir Zayadi's Experiences
There are many reasons we don't fit in at work. Number one: praying on Fridays. Number two: fasting, which goes against a lot of what happens at company functions. Number three: alcohol, which is served at almost every company function. Number four: how to socialize outside of work, which for the most part involves catching a drink after work. It's like trying to catch a train when it is going at a certain speed, sometimes you are able to and sometimes you're not. At least some things I can fit in with, but some things I don't.
I try to be as open as possible and share as much information [about my background] as I can. Sometimes I avoid sharing information or getting into certain subjects just because I am tired and I have too much on my plate.
My previous job was with a consulting firm. I was there for about six years. I left because the company I was consulting for was going through reductions and consultants were going to be the first cut.
I'm from Iraq in addition to being Arab. So that's the icing on the cake these days. Everybody wants to know my thoughts. Everyone wants to ask, "Aren't you happy Saddam was captured? Aren't you happy democracy has been instilled?" I know for me in the workplace, stuff comes up.
Stereotypes? Yeah. Constantly. Frequently I don't pay attention to how I look. My beard can grow long until one day I feel like shaving it off. I was in Iraq and came back to work and my manager called me into his office.
I was taking a speaking class and my instructor asked the class a question. He said to me, "You look political. Why don't you answer the question?"
The FBI called my manager at work. My manager pulled me into his office and asked, "What have you done?" And then they started asking other friends as well and my friends told me about it. So finally they called me, I said, "Finally! You should have called me right away rather than going around like this." That created a lot of tension in the workplace.
If I have a political conversation with my co-workers on Monday, they will ask me the same stupid question again on Wednesday because they'll have seen something on Fox. It's like I'm playing tennis with Fox.