I don't see how counteracting a history of racist discrimination with new, antiracist discrimination is ever going to eliminate discrimination. A system where people get jobs based on their race and gender isn't genuinely equal, even if every race and gender is allocated a proportionate share.
I see poverty as an orthogonal issue here, since there are plenty of African Americans from affluent families. If Microsoft's goal was helping people of any race break the cycle of poverty, I would consider that perfectly fair. Fighting historical racism with new-age racism in the opposite direction isn't the way to go.
I don’t want to jump into this particular garbage fire, but the answer to your second question (and implicitly your first) is in the post you’re responding to.
