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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.
My firm made isolated attempts to diversify but kept the sexist and racist managing partner
Some law firms I have been at make these isolated attempts to diversify. They bring in high profile people but they don't address the underlying culture. They don't have the authority to change that. For example, at one firm I was at, the managing partner was a sexist, racist pig. At another firm, they brought in a woman who was a very strong advocate for diversity but her ability to really change things was limited because the way the partnership was structured.