And the play-acting can have enormous consequences when a diversity hire puts someone in a position of power for which they are woefully prepared.

Recently at our local university, a woman who claimed Indigenous/Metis background, was put into a powerful position of control over 4th and 5th year education majors, all of whom were required to take an upper level Indigenous culture course.

She was later fired.

"Professor Amie Wolf, the unhinged prof who accused 12 students who filed a complaint against her teaching and, by all accounts, were transferred out of her class by UBC itself of vague claims of white supremacy in their midterm reports went on a Twitter rampage and published the names of the students as the “dirty dozen."

Turns out in the rush to appoint a WOC, no one had actually checked in on her Indigenous ancestry claims.

In Canada, such people, like Buffy Ste. Maria, are labelled 'pretendians'.

And yet, there were still people who claimed that she was a victim of typical white racism and misogyny, fed of course by her media posted claims of victimhood.

It is as your write:

In a topsy-turvy world, the empowered victim is the new and only narrative carrying gravitas.

And it's not just seen in individuals, as is painfully obvious in the Middle East, it is a card played by nations too.