It’s a lot more complicated than that. The people pursuing these lawsuits are opportunists, to be sure, and may well be racists, but “Those who oppose affirmative action are racists” is far too broad a net. Targeting anything, whether a college application, job, housing, or grant, based on race and ethnicity as a sole or principal criterion–whether the outcome or intent is good or bad–is a problematic undertaking, and these lawsuits demonstrate why: If it’s good for the goose, it’s good for the gander. If a white person is disadvantaged in a program or process because they’re white, that’s a problem.
We have better criteria. People who are actually advancing the cause of DEI are going to use this as an opportunity to articulate what the real issues are, and they absolutely should: you shouldn’t get a grant for being black. You should get a grant for serving a historically disadvantaged community. Maybe that community is black–but maybe it’s LGBTQ, or Hispanic American, or even just poor. You shouldn’t need to target race, because if race is actually an indicator of qualification, you can just target the qualification and get the same pool of beneficiaries. If there is no underlying qualification? Well then maybe the grant is racist.
All of that said, on the actual merits here, I’m inclined to agree that a grant is qualitatively different than an employment or enrollment agreement. You should be able to give your money to whomever you want for any reason or no reason. Nevertheless, the broader issue of DEI isn’t just a matter of racists vs minority groups. It necessarily demands a confrontation of why it matters that black entrepreneurs, for example, might need redress for harm that their ancestors–real people–suffered at the hands of an inequitable and unjust state. We can talk about that without racist language and policy, and we must.