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.
I was "okay" black
- Workplace Unfairness
- Female
- African-American
- Education
- Left & is now a Small Business Entrepreneur
- Education
- Fitting In
- Socializing
- Unwelcoming Environment
My resentment came when I was working as the only African American analyst in the office. When I'd associate with the other African American women in the office, who were secretaries, the white people would say, "Have lunch with us?" or "You went you to her wedding?" I was chosen because I was harmless in their minds. But my association with people in different work categories gave them pause about whether I was right for the position. Over my ten years in the office, my relationships with the other people of color grew deeper. The white people in the office always went out of their way to invite me to events, but that was because I was "okay" black.