Same here. I'm pretty liberal on a number of issues, but this kind of language is extremely off-putting to me. If it means that the layoffs were explicitly racist, that is disgusting.
I am NOT fine with hiring that enforces equality of outcome (where some people, who would otherwise be considered unqualified, are granted an opportunity because of their race).
Race should account for ZERO percent of a hiring decision.
A great many eggs have been and will continue to be broken in service of equality of outcome, and we will all be worse off for it.
Acknowledging it has, and does, and that it is more often than not to the detriment of minority groups is what any informed person should recognize.