Now - your experience no doubt fits with your time-frame within “the system”. As with anything there’s an evolutionary curve of learning.
Hire new people based on…well, at one time how much access, money, opportunity existed for certain genders or colors to get the “qualifications”? I’ve been hired into positions that I needed some training for once I received the job. I have no idea if I was hired under Canada’s similar employment standards (it was non-govt) BUT I like to think I brought other qualities they were looking for besides my vagina.
As far as pay, most companies have a scale based on education, experience, past pay info, etc that they work out what your current salary offer will be.
Anyway… info:
Ten states in the US have banned affirmative action : California (1996), Texas (1996), Washington (1998), Florida (1999), Michigan (2006), Nebraska (2008), Arizona (2010), New Hampshire (2012), Oklahoma (2012), and Idaho (2020). However, Texas’s ban with Hopwood v. Texas was reversed in 2003 by Grutter v. Bollinger leaving nine states that currently ban the policy.
AS far as education…
Affirmative action is one of the best tools colleges and universities have to promote diversity and ensure that those who are otherwise shut out of the American postsecondary system have a chance to earn a quality degree.
Hmmm 
those “lily-white institutions” (where you get to join clubs/societies that create bonds with others for society shaping)…
Like, Princeton - so proud of its first black Valedictorian in May 2020
The kid deserves a kudos - the institution deserves a kick in the ass.