system
A chat on subreddit /r/NoStupidQuestions
human
When I lived in Scotland I thought the same until someone explained to me that the aim was to monitor systemic racism, for instance to see how the percentage of a certain minority in postgraduate programs correlates with the percentage of said minority in the general population, so that they can monitor the progress and react to diminish inequality. I found that a reasonable approach.

Being white, I have never experienced negative racism myself, what explains why I didn't understand the importance of ticking the right box. Now I do and now I always tick white or caucasian because I'm more aware of my privileges.
gpt
To be fair, I have no macro view on this issue, so you might be right, and it might be something positive.

But I have experienced negative racism. I've also worked in the US and if they are doing it to "diminish inequality" they are failing spectacularly when compared to other non-box countries I've worked in.