The Diversity Police Raid the Boardroom .Forcing firms to disclose the race and gender of their directors is a step toward de facto quotas.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Berkshire Hathaway, the profitable holding company run by the Obama-supporting investment guru Warren Buffett, has for a few years included an interesting nugget about diversity in its proxy disclosures:

“Berkshire does not have a policy regarding the consideration of diversity in identifying nominees for director. In identifying director nominees, the Governance Committee does not seek diversity, however defined. Instead, as previously discussed, the Governance Committee looks for individuals who have very high integrity, business savvy, an owner-oriented attitude and a deep genuine interest in the Company.”

This refreshingly direct disclosure complies with a 2009 Securities and Exchange Commission requirement that companies disclose any plans regarding board diversity. Yet the SEC is no longer impressed. The regulatory agency is now threatening to mandate much stricter diversity disclosures—which would allow activists to intimidate firms into forced affirmative-action programs.

“Companies’ disclosures on board diversity in reporting under our current requirements have generally been vague and have changed little since the rule was adopted,” SEC Chairman Mary Jo White complained in June. “Very few companies have disclosed a formal diversity policy.”

Ms. White then suggested the SEC would propose a new rule requiring companies “to include in their proxy statements more meaningful board diversity disclosures on their board members and nominees.” She also left the door open to having the rule specifically define what diversity means. These developments should trouble businesses that simply want to hire the best people.

You can be sure that the statists are all for racial quotas in the boardroom.