I would be pretty pissed off if I couldn't hire a the best qualified person in favor of someone with a different viewpoint that's not materially relevant to the position.

> My life experience was a bubble that was cut off from a significant portion of the population.

No offense, but nothing is stopping you from expanding your horizons, in this day and age it doesn't require you to live with other kinds of people. Nor is expanding your horizons particularly beneficial for many/most domains we work in. I can speak 3 languages, have lived in the US/Europe, grew up in a poor US black/hispanic neighborhood, etc. Knowing how other people live has never given me any particular insight that was helpful at my software development job.

My highly-skilled coworker (and friend) is black/hispanic, he hates this DEI stuff. He didn't get his job from any DEI initiatives (we've worked together at previous employers, his connections/reputation got him here), but that won't stop people who don't know him from wondering if he's actually competent, or is just here because of some DEI quota.