I'm not sure we can have a productive conversation about this, but while Republicans are indeed full of shit, DEI initiatives certainly do have an effect on meritocratic selection. For example in colleges Asians are/were rejected at higher rates despite having higher academic performance because of representation goals; black doctors have lower MCAT scores/GPAs than doctors of other races; etc.

Personally, I'm all for affirmative action with criteria that aren't based on protected class. For example if you help out poor people instead of black people, you'll end up helping a lot of black people in the end, but you will also help Asian/other people that need the help, and you won't waste your resources "helping" black people who don't need it.