There are also plenty of on-topic conversations that will get ruled out under a "no politics" rule. For example, the question "Why is everybody here white?" is an important workplace conversation, as is "Why do we pay women with similar experience less money?" and "Why are we letting the VP of Sales bang the interns?" But these are seen as highly political. And I think those are the real target of "no politics" bans.

Just look at Basecamp as an example. Turns out they had for years been making fun of customer names. When that was brought up, one of the complaints was that making fun of ethnic names can be racist, and that low-grade racism lays societal support for the more obviously dangerous kinds. That so enraged one of the powerful white dudes in the company "politics" was banned and the DEI committee was scrapped. Which in turn led to more than a third of the company quitting. They're bidding those staff goodbye and sticking with the ban on "politics".

Refusal to discuss racism is an obviously political move, so if anything the quantity of "politics" at Basecamp has increased. I think the real meaning of the bans is "the comfort of people doing well under the status quo should be preserved", which is deeply political.