Why do you think you deserve access to public research dollars to scratch you personal research itch? If you can't explain to taxpayers how your research impacts them, I think it's fair that they should deny you their money.
Because every invention has been someone's personal itch. That's how the invention business works. From academia to VC, you fund a bunch of ideas and some of them change the world. Diversity statements don't play any part in this process.
