Would you agree then, that we need to deal with the racial discrimination in society to ensure that those groups who are disadvantaged so that they aren't able to compete on the same playing field when applying for jobs which hire based upon merit can have a chance? Right now DEI is trying to solve a problem at the finish line that should be solved before the job race starts? If so, how do we do so without considering race?
Would you agree then, that we need to deal with the racial discrimination in society to ensure that those groups who are disadvantaged so that they aren't able to compete on the same playing field when applying for jobs which hire based upon merit can have a chance?
Absolutely.
Right now DEI is trying to solve a problem at the finish line that should be solved before the job race starts?
Kinda. DEI is trying to address an outcome that is in large part caused by disadvantage and discrimination. The outcome itself, in this case the ethnic makeup of academic and business positions not precisely reflecting the ethnic makeup of the country, is not by itself bad or good, just as it isn't "evil" that most nail techs are women. It's an indicator, not a disease. Artificially manipulating the racial makeup of a company or university is like dunking your head in ice water and saying "look, no fever!"
If so, how do we do so without considering race?
You address disadvantages that include those stemming from race without counting race itself. If your admissions process, for example, gives X points for coming from a single parent household, then those points will be distributed to each race in exact proportion that race experiences disadvantage from having single-parent households. Same for poverty and other factors.
Also, Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith.