Otherwise, it is acceptable and in the best long term interests of the company. Maybe the best long-term interests of the company aren't aligned with the best

Otherwise, it is acceptable and in the best long term interests of the company. Maybe the best long-term interests of the company aren't aligned with the best long-term interests of our society. If, hypothetically, the market took over, and drove racial equality/diversity in a direction such that we almost literally ended up with a white male overclass and everyone else their servants/slaves, would you shrug and say "well clearly white males are just better for the long term interests of the companies"? Or would you wonder if there were maybe some non-market-based factors at play... "The market" doesn't magically solve all problems. It's not a simple matter of companies making non-discriminatory hiring decisions. As of now, the average white candidate probably is more qualified than the minority candidate, because of a complex web of social factors and experiences tracing back to birth. So they would always get selected by "the market," creating a feedback loop leading to the scenario I described. The market is definitely not going to provide equality of opportunity. If that's something we care about, we have to actively push things that direction.