GM Gets its First African American Female Director of Design - And?

Forgive us for asking, but why should appointing an 'African-American' female in a high position be such a big deal that a company like General Motors has to publish a press release stating the gender and origin of the person in the title? Are we supposed to be surprised or even worse, do we have to congratulate GM for having its "first African American Female Design Director of Design"? Furthermore, does this mean that every time GM appoints someone who is neither a man nor a white-Anglo-Saxon in a high -rank position, the company will issue a release with the gender and race of that person printed in bold? Maybe we're missing something here...

And just for the record, the firm's new Director of GM North American Passenger Car Design is Crystal Windham who has been styling cars for the brand since 1994 - see, was it so difficult?