I haven't read the article linked in the OP but one of the origins of G/T programs (back in the late 70s and early 80s) was as an inducement to keep non-minority parents from leaving urban communities for the suburbs.
At that time, there was stark difference in the educational preparedness of communities of color for reasons that don't need a separate paragraph here.
Some parents who were not big fans of highly integrated school systems were open about their desire to leave urban communities. The creation of G/T programs were a solution to that. At the time, induction to those programs was largely based on teacher recommendation - which resulted in the expected racial disparities at the time.
The extent to which such things are relevant to the current discussion of G/T programs is specific to the question if the programs were truly designed to maximize gifted potential. If they were then they should still be fine. But if the original intent was as much political as anything else then it might be time to explore other ways of maximizing the potential of the student body.
