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.
Unspoken Rule
It was all about unwritten rules. I didn't know the rules. I felt like a fish out of water. I always felt as though they would have loved me if I could have overcome the stigma.
I had a great relationship with my boss. He came to me and said, "You've done a lot of great things here. You have worked on a lot of major transactions. I'm not having any problem at all with your performance, but I'm getting some feedback from my boss that you need to better manage your perceptions." I asked, "What do you mean by better manage perceptions?" He had a hard time explaining what that meant, but I guess it meant that I was suppose to kiss up more and do a little more brown-nosing.
The company did have a mentorship program. I met up with someone and had lunch a couple of times and it was somewhat helpful. It wasn't really a genuine mentorship; it was just something the company put together and people were just going through the motions.
There was a very strong fundamentalist Christian culture at the office. They had unofficial policies that were implemented by the executive who was the head of marketing and sales. He would call people up and say, in no uncertain terms, "It is unacceptable for you to live with your boyfriend or girlfriend.
