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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.
Expectation of Failure
- Workplace Unfairness
- Male
- African-American
- Engineering
- Left & is now Self-Employed
- Cultural Educator
- Diverse Workforce
- Double Standards
- Stereotyping
I was a pioneer as the only black person in team "A" so everything I was involved with was a perceived risk for management. I got the impression that management was thinking, "We have never dealt with a black person in leadership or team 'A,' can we risk giving him stuff?" Every project that was handed to me was given with slight trepidation and questioning of capability. I felt like if I made one mistake it would prove their preconceived ideas.