If DEI was about removing barriers due to racial (both conscious and unconscious) biases, then it wouldn't be so controversial. For example, symphonies auditioning candidates behind a screen so they hiring people are only presented with the sound of their playing. But DEI is the opposite of that. It's about very explicitly identifying race/gender/etc up front and then using that as the primary basis for hiring decisions. Disqualifying someone because of their race is not only allowed but required by DEI policies.
From me I'd like to ask where all the people from the Indian sub continent are in the Gemini Photos given they make a large percentage of developers at Google but are non existent in the output. Why the literal erasure of ~2 billion people?
Non-whites are being kept down by a ruling class. In some cases it it on purpose (gerrymandering of voting districts based on skin color - a GOP favorite) and in some cases it's because of hidden biases (recruiters favoring people of their own skin color and background without thinking about it).
This, believe it or not, happens at the university level too by the people who are processing admissions.
It's not a white thing, every race does it, but in the USA most companies, governments and schools are run by a white people.
"I would never do that!" I can hear you say. But you probably would favor someone of your own background when looking to hire someone.
Go to a a random European country where Asians and people with African background are the minorities and you'll see Asian men with Asian women, and black men with black women and guess what, they too have an racist bias that they (most likely) are not aware of.
DEI is meant to be a counter to this.