So, the Roanoke Times is racially and intellectually bigoted?

"I'm telling you, Billy, it's a sign. Tommy Denton is ready to come out of the closet and under the sheets. Do you realize this means our group'll finally have somebody that can write?" 

Oh, probably not, but the Times would definitely hint at "institutional racism" if these figures applied to a business or other entity it didn't like. A 50% decline in newsroom diversity in the last ten years? A minority workforce far below the minority percentage of Virginia's population? Racism? Or just a sign that the Roanoke Times might be experiencing the same difficulties in attracting qualified minority candidates as other corporate and academic entities? Probably the latter.

More at Poynter Online concering the lack of "diversity" at most newspapers.

Of course, there are other, more important forms of "diversity" than skin color.

All this certainly brings back memories of a terrible chapter in American history -- the story of The Old Negro Space Program.