Sure, if someone’s immediate assumption at seeing a non-white male hire is assuming they’re a diversity hire, that’s probably indicative of some prejudice, but that’s a bit of a strawman. I very much doubt that most people who raise such concerns about diversity hires have anything like such an immediate and obvious response. More likely is the planting of seeds of doubt about the hire, on the conscious or even the subconscious level, seeds that will tend to grow anytime said hire fails to perform perfectly in any given situation. Whereas a non-diversity hire may be granted the benefit of the doubt when mistakes are made, the presence of these seeds may incline someone to believe the diversity hire’s mistakes are competency related. It’s not at all healthy to have such seeds sown in a company, but my inclination would be to address them by removing their source, the diversity emphasis in hiring, rather than simply telling people they’re racist/sexist which accomplishes nothing but breeding more malice in response.
