I was as upset and concerned as everyone else when I heard of the fires that devastated North Raleigh yesterday. But I learned from The News & Observer this morning that there was a silver lining in the disaster. Though much of the townhouse project was destroyed, The N&O reported, we should be comforted by the fact that, as the subhead to the print version of the story tells us, it “was occupied by a ‘full spectrum’ of residents.” Thank God it wasn’t just a partial spectrum.

To be fair to The N&O, it was the developer of Pine Knoll Townes who, as his project smoldered, felt compelled to comment on it’s diversity. The paper just quoted him, and the print copy editor saw that as important enough to put in the headline. But the fetish for diversity has taken a macabre turn when the skin color and income levels of the victims are the first thing we think of as we try to make sense of a disaster.

After getting beat over the head for years about affordable housing, developers must think diversity trumps everything. Is that surprising?