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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.
Saada Sydow's Experiences
I was a merchandising assistant for a huge retail clothing company and when my supervisor was asked to take on another line of work, I became primarily responsible for the two lines we had been working on previously.
This same supervisor would also make racially insensitive remarks. I'm mixed race, I have a Caucasian mother and an African-American father, and once she looked at a picture of my mother and asked, "How could that possibly be your mother?"
I went to HR with the problems I had with my supervisor and initially they were very welcoming and wanted to hear my story.
Most the people in fashion are young, single women or gay men. I was a young mother of twins so I had to leave on time to make my daycare commitments.