The two are incompatible. You're either hiring based on race, gender, sexual identity etc. or based on merit. Firing people who got hired because of racist and sexist DEI practices increases merit.
DEI means to work in removing biases that limit access of minorities to opportunities. When it works, being a white male doesn’t get confused with merit, as it usually is. Lots of people think this is discrimination, because their group isn’t being hired as much as before when, in fact, it’s just the removal of discrimination against others.
In what way?
Seriously...
Did it occur to you to ask them what they want?
> Especially given that on some level they must know how others really feel about it.
It's not healthy to assign your self-value based on other people's opinions.
> It's interesting to see how these types of initiatives always produce the opposite of what they claim to stand for.
[Citation Needed]
On a more serious note, mental health is a very serious issue with women who feel they need to be thin to be fiscally healthy or attractive to others. Girls should never go through this.