I'm far from an expert, but I don't feel preference to one group over another is the purpose of DEI. I think we can look at this a few ways and have that make sense.

I watched a video discussing DEI this morning, and it pointed out that these for-profit companies, run by wealthy individuals, would not be doing DEI to begin with if it didn't have tangible benefits. Some of it can be the moral equivalent of greenwashing, but what business of any size would say, no, I don't want to hire the best person, I need more X people instead? That would only be sabotaging yourself.

Well what benefits do employers get from DEI? If a talented person from a minority group is looking for work, and they had their choice of places to work, would they pick a place with a monoculture, or one that is making an effort to show they are welcoming to people of all backgrounds? If they take a job that embraces people of all walks of life, they'll also retain those people as they won't feel like someone who's only there to check a box on a list of hiring requirements. If they hire people that went to the best schools in Europe, China, India, etc. they're getting ideas and innovation from all over the world.

I'm at my second pharmaceutical job, and both facilities hire the best people they can from around the world. At both places, I'm the only white person on my team. It obviously did not impair me getting hired and I've never felt treated better or worse than anyone else. But I have greatly expanded my horizons from getting to know people from the other places and cultures. I've been able to give them different perspectives on things as well.

I wouldn't want to get a job just because I was white more than anyone would want to get a job purely because they weren't. I couldn't imagine somewhere like that would be a place that I wanted to be at for very long. But being at places where I see everybody no matter who they are getting treated the same lets me see there's at least some level of fairness going on. So DEI isn't something to give something to some particular someone and not somebody else, it's just to make sure everyone is getting something where that's possible. It's not a quota system, but a desire to prevent becoming one.