Living in Atlanta with an open mind and friends with different political opinions (though pretty clustered around "moderate" to left), this subject has come up

Living in Atlanta with an open mind and friends with different political opinions (though pretty clustered around "moderate" to left), this subject has come up a lot. I'm a strong believer in both moral and business benefits for diversity, but what surprises me is the universal dislike of these efforts. I believe the major problem is the role of optics in corporate environments. In a corporate environment people have to justify their existence, and visible efforts are prioritized. Unfortunately these visible efforts are not only superficial (they make the people running the initiatives look good, the company itself can posture, but not much changes internally), but also single out and "other" people. These initiatives can be doing good work behind the scenes too, but how do you judge someone doing a good job in this area? Metrics about hiring? Metrics about promotions? Maybe it would be better if these initiatives answer to and be judged by the people they should be helping, and not to some success metrics thrown out during a board meeting or company optics. Instead of focusing on diverse hires, focus on supporting the diverse staff you already have. If it's a good place to work, the hires will come out of that. I believe these efforts are ultimately a good thing, even if they're getting it wrong, but as a white male I hesitated to even write that, because I know how vastly different the experience of a minority in America is from my own, and from what I've heard it's a mixed bag. I always remember reading an interview with one of the little rock nine who said she felt forced to go to an integrated school and was still angry about it as an adult. It absolutely sucks to be in that position - something that's ultimately good for society but devastating for an individual. So while I think the general thrust of DEI is a good thing, it has to be tempered by the individual experience and always support people as individuals and not perpetuate lumping everyone in the "minority" bucket.