Why not hire specifically for "diversity of perspectives, thoughts, and opinions" then? Why bring race into it?

that is one proxy

Are you saying all blacks think the same way?

Most big companies want compliant followers who don't make themselves, their bosses, or the company look bad. The problem is the fads of business theater: open offices, DEI, butt-in-seat mentality, multiple layers of top-down militant managers, and multiple rounds of layoffs and uncertainty are the worst.

Would be a beautiful thing. But these initiatives don’t do that: instead, they select for a political and socioeconomic monoculture, with diversity in physical appearance only.