Hi Lisa:
You hit the target. Slowly but surely, the "progressive paranoia" of the WTBS leadership is adjusting to societal trends, despite the snail's pace. They will probably search for more "Samuel Herd" types among the always faithful, docile, obedient and loyal minority groups under their control. In the end, it is in their best interest to recruit upper echelon positions from the minority and foreign branch populations for several secular reasons:
1. Unfortunately, minority populations are still economically deprived and challenged in the US. This provides the WTBS a talent pool of usually religious, uninformed, co-dependent, quasi-superstitious, docile individuals to promote through the ranks into positions formerly held by anglo-saxon members.
2. Although the majority of american households are rapidly becoming "computerized", sadly, the sampling of minority groups within the WTBS are the portion of the minority populations in the US that are not economically strong. Other than exceptions like George Benson, possibly Prince, the majority of progress being made in business and education in minority communities is NOT amongst minority JW's. Therefore, the WTBS has a much lower risk of their minority members being truly informed and going astray.
3. The WTBS is a comfortable place to hide since the 90's to avoid social responsibility. I have met many who dismissed the ongoing racial struggles in the US and have settled into a delusional utopian euphoria created and propogated by the WTBS and active association with the congregations. i can still remember circuit and district assemblies where the majority of the assignments in clenaing, cooking, maintenance and manual labor were performed by minority members, while the administrative and logistical functions were supervised and controlled by white members. We have all seen it. Poor urban ghetto congregations with large memberships who make the majority of contributions in the circuit, and small quasi-affluent suburban congregations that are always in a fiscal crisis needing regular assistance.
Thanks to lingering residual effects of slavery and a legacy of bias, the WTBS can rely on and regularly prey on the uneducated, uninformed, disenfranchised minorities they recruit in urban america. You don't see Oprah, Johnny Cochran, Cornell West or other highly educated, high profile, financially independent, wealthy minorities flocking to the WTBS.
When the WTBS cannot find a suitable candidate, they find the next best thing - italo-americans. They are always for sale and ripe for influence. Way to go Lisa!