The Washington Post reports that Rep. Mel Watts (D-NC) tried to make a public point about Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff bringing ten white, male staff members to a hearing on hiring diversity.
Chertoff: “I wouldn’t assume that the ethnic background of everybody behind me is self-evident.”
Watt: “I wouldn’t assume the ethnic background of everybody behind you is self-evident, but I think I know an African American when I see one … If anybody is a female that’s sitting back there and wants to stand up and volunteer to tell me that … I want the record to show clearly that nobody stood up to volunteer in either one of those categories.”
So noted, but WaPo observes that of the ten, one was Peruvian, one Iranian, and one Russian-born of Jewish heritage. And there was no suggestion that any of the ten occupied a high-level position, which is what the hearing was about, anyway.
(HT: The Corner)
