Editor 's note : A nationally syndicated columnist , Roland S. Martin is the author of `` Listening to the Spirit Within : 50 Perspectives on Faith '' and `` Speak , Brother ! A Black Man 's View of America . '' Visit his Web site for more information . He is hosting `` No Bias , No Bull '' at 8 p.m . ET on CNN while Campbell Brown is on maternity leave . Roland Martin says there 's an assumption the word `` qualified '' needs to be used for women , minorities . ( CNN ) -- I could n't help but laugh this morning when I saw the headline for a debate on Politico.com : `` Should Obama feel obliged to appoint a qualified woman , African American or Hispanic to the Supreme Court ? If so , why , and on what basis should he choose among these groups ? '' Hmmm . A `` qualified '' woman , African-American or Hispanic . My first thought ? Hell no ! Give me the most unqualified person to sit on the highest court in the land ! Yeah , right . It 's always amazing when diversity is discussed that people feel the need to use the qualifier `` qualified . '' If you think about it , there never seems to be an assumption when white men are being discussed that they are unqualified . Their qualification is simply assumed and is inherent in their whiteness and maleness . Sure , go ahead and say , `` Man , you 're being too sensitive ! '' But I do want you to think about this for a second . Why do we as a society feel the need to say it 's important to have `` qualified '' women or minorities ? Is n't that assumed ? If President Obama is going to pick a Supreme Court justice , it never has dawned on me that he will grab a list of people who are n't capable of doing the job . The thought never even enters my mind . Part of the issue is that a lot of folks have bought into the notion that any minority has gotten a job based on their skin color or a woman is hired because of her gender , so therefore , we better emphasize the need for a `` qualified '' person . You ought to see some of the e-mails I 've gotten from folks who think they are hurting my feelings by saying I 'm a `` quota '' or `` affirmative action '' hire and took the job of `` a deserving white person . '' Oh , yeah , these are a part of the greatest hits in my inbox . A few years ago , I recall a white female news director in Texas who often reveled in her liberal way of thinking . She would go on and on about being a white liberal but would often talk about how hard it was to find `` qualified '' minorities for jobs . Then I would look at some of the most incompetent white men and women who worked for her and ask myself , `` I wonder if they passed the qualified test ? '' Another time , I challenged a white male recruiter on the term , and he would just say over and over , `` You , know , qualified . '' And I kept pressing him on whether he asks the same question of someone white , and he could n't answer the question . Now , I 'm sure the folks who despise affirmative action will quickly say , `` See , if it were n't for affirmative action , no one would even use such terms ! '' Yeah , right . In the 17 years I 've been a professional journalist , I 've seen unqualified white men , white women and , yes , minorities hired and promoted , and affirmative action had nothing to do with it . People make hiring decisions based on the flimsiest of reasons , whether it 's what schools they went to ( such as assuming everyone from an Ivy League school is the best ; no , some are incompetent ) , they know the right people , or they were so `` articulate '' that they were given a shot . And yes , I 've seen a host of qualified white men , white women , African-Americans , Hispanics , Asians and Native Americans hired for jobs , and they 've done a fantastic job . It was n't their race or gender that was the key ; they simply had the skills to do the job . It 's simply time that when it comes to women or minorities , we should retire the use of word `` qualified . '' Every job , regardless of a group targeted , should be filled with a person with the right talents , smarts and energy to get the job done . Hiring the best should automatically mean they are qualified . Period . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Roland Martin .
Roland says : Why is n't the word ` ` qualified '' used often for white men ? He says ` ` qualified '' is often applied to ways of hiring people , too . He says every job should be filled with someone who has talent to succeed .