Diversity Diaries: Sally Lehrman

By Sally Lehrman
Free-lance journalist, Bay Area, Calif.

08.15.01

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I had been in the newsroom for several years when a new African-American male joined our staff. He seemed to be really friendly, smart and somebody I'd like to get to know. But for some reason, he also seemed to avoid my company. Years later, after I had become very close friends with this man, we began talking about how we had gotten to know each other. I asked him why he had seemed to avoid me that first year at the paper. He said it was true, indeed he had. That was because he had been told that I was an ardent feminist and that he should stay away. I thought it was hilarious but sad.

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