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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 saw what corporate America did to my dad.
- Workplace Unfairness
- Male
- African-American
- Banking - Investment
- Left & is now Self-Employed
- Disillusionment
- Impact
My dad was an engineer and dealt with racism on lots of levels. Whites told him, "I won't work for a n*****." These are the kind of stories he brought home and that's why my mother supported me in my entrepreneurial pursuits. He retired from his corporate job when he was 45-years-old and was fortunate enough to have invested enough to retire. He was retired but he just semi-disappeared from life and I think a lot of it was due to his experience in corporate America. My parents divorced and we're not that close even now. Looking back at those times as an adult I think a lot of it had to due with his experience in corporate America.