> anecdotal evidence suggests this is not the case.

Ah, and we all know the plural of anecdote is "data". /s Oh wait...

The fact that you said this, suggests to me that you were the odd-person out on a hiring committee, and because the person got hired anyways, you feel like that means all hiring decisions are made on the basis of race. When in reality, you just didn't like the one candidate, and everyone else was fine.

I don't know for sure that this happened, but I've met people who made these cases, and they pretty consistently overvalue their own opinions.