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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.
I paid my dues. I ate crow.
- Workplace Unfairness
- Female
- Latino/a or Hispanic
- Health Care
- Left & is now Self-Employed
- Health Care
- Compensation
- Double Standards
- Personal Response
I thought, "If I work even half as hard for myself as I have for all these other people, I'll be fine." These people could never tell me to get another degree, because I had them all. I never reported to anyone who had a degree of any significance. If I could do that, then I can succeed on my own. So now they come to me through my business and I can charge them twice as much. I paid my dues. I ate crow.