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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.
Separate and Unequal
- Workplace Unfairness
- Male
- African-American
- Engineering
- Left & is now Self-Employed
- Cultural Educator
- Diverse Workforce
- Stereotyping
- Unwelcoming Environment
When I worked at the stock exchange, I noticed a not so subtle division of engineers into an "A" team and a "B" team. And as far as I could see, the immigrants or minorities were in the "B" Team, irrespective of brilliance. Being black, I was initially on team "B" but when I got to team "A" everyone was so shocked to see me. I was the only black person there, ever. The other team members constantly asked me about being black. I never realized that they had never met anyone that was black.