adjective: token
1. done for the sake of appearances or as a symbolic gesture.
"cases like these often bring just token fines from the courts"
While we may refuse to accept it, the world employs many tokens; things that are done for mere appearances whether or not it is legitimate or not. Of all the places where a token is the most offensive and degrading is when people are tokens. What is even worse, is when people willingly participate in being tokens. You could be the token woman in a group. Or the token black person. Or the token homosexual. Look at any local television news broadcast and you will see the epitome of tokenism. They seem to always have the token woman. The token black person. The token "minority" (a detestable term) whom may look Hispanic or middle eastern. And perhaps a token potentially homosexual.
Could you imagine being hired somewhere simply as their token.
"We need to hire a black person so we don't look racist." Is this really how you'd want to get a job? It is an insult.