I vividly recall reading (the now inappropriately titled) "Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers" by Tom Wolfe. The thesis is that as a ploy to pretend response to 1960's protests against racial discrimination, shrewd bureaucrats, hired minimally trained minorities as front-line service providers. They could appear to be socially responsive but in fact, established a "defense line" against the victims and their leaders. The effect was that the clash was shifted to well-intentioned minorities hirees and the civil-rights advocates.   Senior bureaucrats and politicians could claim "responsiveness"; were pragmatically protected from their angry public and still maintain their privileged and de facto racist establishment programs. Sound familiar?
(I think historically, military leaders placed "disposables" on the front-line as "spear-catchers" who depleted the attackers weaponry, disclosed opposition strategy, allowing "real" soldiers and themselves options). 
Male deacons...more male deacons....