Racism doesn't have to be overt to still be racism.
I'm sure often the thought process goes something like, 'Well, we're in bad shape, it would be good PR AND we'd be doing a good deed if we hire the black candidate. Our roster is terrible so it doesn't really matter who we pick, let's throw the guy a bone.'
Even if they think they are doing a good deed, they're still setting him up to fail and stain his resume, basically making the guy disposable.