I don't know this to be true, but what if I told you that this was a program available nationally using HUD money but administered by the states, but this particular program was simply branded "for black people" in an effort to better engage with that community? Would that change your mind?
I'd have to dig into this one further, but bear in mind we have state (via multiple agencies) and local (both for Travis county and city of Austin) 2nd lien down-payment assistance functionally similar to each other but branded differently (this one is for teachers, this one is for first responders, this one is for veterans, etc.). My favorite is from SETH; we don't get to use it in Travis County but last I checked, it was also a 0% down-payment assistance lien, forgivable depending on length of ownership. It's possible something of this ilk is available to EVERYONE in Washington state.
That said, I agree with you and @Brisketexan that it's bad optics and I'd not be giving conservatives an easy target if I were them.