Is it right to ask university and job applicants their ethnic origin?

Essay from the year 2006 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Applied Geography, grade: 2, University of Bath (Department of European Studies and Modern Languages), course: Modern British Society, language: English, abstract: The second day in the university, I wanted to register with the medical centre. I had to fill in a form asking me about my address, previous diseases and allerg...