Did the writer not read what he/she wrote?

Did the speaker not hear what she said?

"We take the ideals of equal opportunity very seriously and we're extremely proud of 2nd Lt. Freeman's achievements," Gordon said in an Army news release. "She is further proof that we don't see race or gender in the Alabama Guard, we see soldiers and airmen and their potential."

So said Major Gen. Sheryl Gordon, Alabama National Guard’s “first female general” and “the first female to serve as adjutant general of the state,” commenting on 2LT Kayla Freeman becoming “the first black female pilot in the state National Guard's history.”

http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/texas/story/2018/jul/25/black-female-pilot-makes-history/735967/

So why all the PR? If the Guard does not see race or gender, no official announcement of 2LT Freeman’s accomplishment would have been made, except that she completed the Army Aviation School and received her wings.