The author has a point. I feel like this is what happens when media machines like Miss America get a hold of a Cause. You end up with a veneer of progress, but the underlying core remains almost as bad as it always was.
Look no further than dredging up Steven Pinker to not only defend "Quantum Supremacy" but to double-down and revisit the NIPS to NEURIPS name change because we apparently have nothing better to talk about on Christmas...