Can you link me to the specific comment where you've acknowledged negative reinforcement?

I'll go ahead and do it again, just for you: Racial and sexual bias is present in our systems. In politics, in employment, and in every other industry. They've been dealt a shit hand via generational poverty, which extends from all the way back in the days of slavery. Marginalized people deserve an upper hand.

DEI attempts to bring balance to that inequality, using racism and discrimination. DEI is a net positive. Discrimination is not inherently negative.

Basketball teams hire white men frequently. So I'm still not sure what point you're making

The point I'm making is the frequency. Unless you want to claim that companies just never hire black men, at which point I expect to see statistics indicating that all black men are unemployed.

Black basketball players comprise ~70% of the NBA, despite making up ~13% of the US population. That's a >500% over-representation. Are you planning to file a complaint?

And as far as I've seen, people are not assessing the policies themselves

What are you talking about? It's called DEI. The policy is in the name.

but making assertions around them directly to individual long-term hires

I don't even know what this means?

White people, so far as I've seen, have not had to defend their presence under these policies.

You just did, in your first reply to me:

I'm white, straight, and male...Every agent that I've tried to contact, especially ones that match the type of book I'm writing, has been vocal that their focus is on BIPOC, LGBT, and other diverse candidates. I've been turned away at every one.