The best person for the job

is the person who should be chosen for the job.
It does not matter whether that person is black, white, blue, red, purple or something else. 
There have been criticisms because out of four women and one man the man got the job. In this case the job is being the candidate for a seat in federal parliament.  People are crying out, "A woman should have been selected."
No, the best person for the job should have been selected. The women may be good, even very good, but they still need to the best.
We are not doing ourselves any favours if we don't put the best person for the job in the position which needs to be filled. Many  years ago a woman I knew was appointed to be the head of a small special school. It was said to be an excellent choice, "a real breakthrough".  At the time though I had my doubts as did some of those who had been hoping to at least be considered for the position. My ultimate boss at the time had his doubts too.
   "It's going to hurt your chances Cat," he told me, "It's going to do a lot of damage."
And it did. This woman was appointed because she had a disability. She wasn't appointed on the basis that she was able to run a school. She had actually never taught and was not even trained to teach,  The appointment was a failure. She was not able to do the job because she simply did not have the qualifications. Her disability had nothing to do with her ability to do the job.
At the time I was not old enough or experienced enough to even think of applying for the position. When she left I was transferred to the school as an assistant. A new head was appointed. He was often away. When he was away I was responsible but I was told I would never be considered for the position, indeed for anything other than a classroom position - and that only reluctantly. 
My ultimate boss eventually told me, "Go back to university Cat, you need to do something else. Nobody is going to take chances again."
And they didn't. Some would say it was a good thing because it hastened the move to dismantle the special schools and place the students in mainstream classrooms. 
But it also did a lot of damage. Forty years down the track and there is still a reluctance to employ people with disabilities. My ultimate boss is no longer alive. The last time I saw him he spoke again of that appointment and the damage it had done.
     "I wanted to see more women at the top," he told me, "And it didn't happen. Now it is happening again but for the wrong reasons. The best women available are leaving to do other things. I don't blame them but look at what we have missed out on."
And perhaps it is also because of my own experience that I don't believe in appointing someone to a role simply because they happen to be one thing or another or another. I simply want the best person available to fill the position.  I don't think "quotas" work if they result in the best people not being chosen.
Is that wrong?