> How shitty would you feel if you've worked your whole life at a very high level, and then the president announces that you're chosen not because you're the best of the candidates, but because you're a black candidate.

This is an interesting point. One of the things that's been pointed out to me by women in my life is the psychological toll of repeatedly being in situations where you feel like you've been discriminated against but there's just enough ambiguity that you're not comfortable speaking up about it. E.g. being passed up for promotion in favor of someone who isn't blatantly less qualified, but is less qualified nonetheless, or being unsure if someone speaks to everyone in a condescending tone or just to women.

The case of the justice seems like the inverse of that. Do publicly advertised affirmative action or DEI programs have the side effect of causing qualified people to second guess whether their success was earned?

I do think there's a lot of value in such programs (that most likely outweighs the negatives, to the extent that they even exist), but I haven't heard anyone talking about whether such effects exist and if so how to handle them. Maybe it's not a factor at all, I certainly am not in a position to say.