Paying attention to diversity doesn't mean picking worse proposals. It means ensuring that minority groups in your community submit proposals in the first place. It means being aware that proposals written by minorities are likely to sound less confident and may understate the value of their content. It means ensuring that your conference has a clear statement of supporting members of minority groups who may feel uncomfortable in a space dominated by white men.
If your defence against claims of your conference lacking diversity is "Well, all our proposals came from white men", that's your fault. Countless other technical conferences around the world can attract proposals from community minorities. If you can't, you're doing it wrong.
>It means being aware that proposals written by minorities are likely to sound less confident and may understate the value of their content.
Why do you assume that the color of someone's skin will make them less capable of writing a good, confident proposal for a conference. You are suggesting that you weight the value of the proposal based on the race of the person who submitted it.
Because there's strong social pressure that encourages anyone other than white men to sound less confident about their ability. Failing to take that into account means that you're not actually engaging in meritocracy.
If your defence against claims of your conference lacking diversity is "Well, all our proposals came from white men", that's your fault. Countless other technical conferences around the world can attract proposals from community minorities. If you can't, you're doing it wrong.