Why do I need to state my ethnicity in order for my work/education to not discriminate against me?

[tejas31]

I often get told by wherever I’m applying to to state my ethnicity to prevent discrimination, but surely it would be a lot harder for them to discriminate against me if I didn’t tell them my ethnicity?

 

[k.h.p.]

There are a lot of employers that collect diversity statistics as part of applications. My employer does this. However, these selections ("Select your ethnicity:") are not generally presented to hiring managers. It's for after-the-fact analysis (did we interview diverse candidates? do we have diverse staff?) and not necessarily part of your hiring up front.