Cross-posted with a bunch of people.
I share your concerns, Charlie, and can add a few of my own. Such as how, practically speaking, Joey
et al. managed to ascertain the races of the 17 authors of the New York feature poems; and how it is possible to either prove one's own racial identity to everyone's satisfaction, or determine others' racial identity, considering
the recent Rachel Dolezal fracas. Would she be black enough to suit Joey? Probably not.
On the other hand, the ugly truth remains that the quality argument--i.e., "the minority candidates just weren't as good as the majority candidates"--has traditionally been used to justify underrepresentation of all sorts of groups from all sorts of activities. I'm not saying that this is the case at
Rattle...[Edited to say: and indeed, diversity has been a hallmark of
Rattle, and it's one of the main reasons why I subscribe]...but elsewhere I have definitely noticed that "good" often really means "relatable to a white male"--not for any sinister, overtly "racist" reason, but simply because the screeners and judges are (predominantly) white males who don't realize their own biases.
[Edited to say: And yes, everyone on the planet is biased by the limitations of his or her own experience, however empathetic one may be with the common humanity of others.]