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.
Recruitment
Throughout my career I have experienced various levels of racism from very blatant to subtle comments. When I began my career at a large automotive company in Michigan I reported to a "good old boy" who worked for the company for more than 30 years. During my first month on the job during one of our one on one meetings he stated, "I don't think women or black people should be in the workforce." Needless to say I began documenting everything from that point on.
I was speaking to a few people at work and telling them that I had not felt discriminated in my workplace. They said my experience may be very different than others because I was referred by someone they trusted.
The point was, there was one set of rules for one group and another set of rules for another and it was by gender. Men got enormous raises. And there were several men hired who I knew didn't have the qualifications and there were women who were over-qualified who couldn't even get an interview.
