It's almost as though people who were considered property for 200+ years, then "less than" for another hundred years, all while being denied the same opportunities for education, higher education, and in the workforce, might have some generational effects that logical people feel deserve to be addressed. But that's crazy, I guess. Everything's the same now. Give me a fucking break.
BTW, your definition of "racist" is so off it's laughable. Your "technical and academic" definition of race being an influence is by definition a form of discrimination, which has many connotations, not all of which are negative. The definition of racism is "a belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race."
Affirmative action and DEI, as you're describing it, is not racism, because it's not based on a belief that race defines human traits. It's the opposite in fact and is a a form of discrimination by technical definition designed to remedy a past of insidious discrimination against certain groups, primarily Black people and Latinos (not limited to them of course), which was premised on the belief that their race made them inferior, i.e., racism.
But yeah, white folks just can't catch any breaks these days.