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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.
Dynamic change
- Workplace Unfairness
- Female
- African-American
- Law Firm
- Considering Leaving
- Fitting In
- Personal Response
- Positive Experience
- Representation
- Socializing
Having other African-Americans to work with there would be a different dynamic. Something as simple as the attorney's lunch that would happen every Friday. We would experiment to see how we could shift the environment. We'd say to each other, "When we go to lunch, let's not talk about golf or movies today. Let's talk about a piece of African-American literature and see if anyone has read it."