This reverse discrimination has been going on for years but white guilt kept everyone silent (there is no white privilege--for years we have been subject to equity, we just did not know it).
We have finally have reached a point where we are starting to understand what is going on and they are pretending we need more of this.
https://nypost.com/2021/04/01/white-nj-professor-sues-claims-black-colleagues-are-paid-more/
Let me play the brutal economist: The reason these black professors earn more is because they are scarce; Either the demand for black professors is high or the supply is low. It is just hard to get the right mixture races. And the white professor is just a dime a dozen. Worthless.
You are right. These days Black professionals can and do demand far higher wages because all these businesses have quotas. They have to higher minorities/blacks. It's wrong but it's a fact. It's just like people with more education or more experience often get paid more. It's just another box to check.. Honestly if a black person graduates college they are basically guaranteed a high paying job. "Reverse" racism at it's finest.
Why there absolutely will be an element of demand versus supply of 'black' professors, paying more to attract a black professor than you would have to pay an equivalently skilled and capable white professor actually exacerbates the racism.