> All that’s to say that if shareholders (who theoretically appoint and are represented by the board) as a group have legitimate and real preference differences from the average person from the these other minority groups, you can get easily get boards that are unrepresentative of the minority groups.

Sure. But the point of the CA law was to say, "nuh-uh, you can't do that. Society has its own interest in board composition, and that trumps (on the grand scale) the shareholder preference." I'm not saying I necessarily agree with that, but I think it's not a ridiculous or even obviously unconstitutional law.