The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People expressed its justifiable contempt in Greenville this week as its leadership called for the appointment of African-American judges to the U.S. District Court bench. Though nearly half the state’s black population lives under the jurisdiction of the Eastern District, no African-American has won appointment to that court.

There are certainly times when the cries of the NAACP seem to ring hollow and their calls for change fall on the ears of a public fatigued by issues of race. In this case, however, the gripe is legitimate and the request made of U.S. Sens. Kay Hagan and Richard Burr, who offer appointments to the president, deserves fair and thorough consideration.

The federal courthouse in downtown Greenville may not be the most attractive building in the city, but it is one of the community’s most important. Serving as part of a judicial complex that includes the stately county courthouse, it is a serious place that handles some of the most imposing cases that unfold in this region. It therefore made a fitting setting for Monday’s news conference, at which leaders of the NAACP called for African-American appointments to the U.S. District Court bench.

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