Odd, definitely. Offensive, probably.
Necessary, unfortunately yes.
At the (state-owned) hospital where I work, we are under orders to make every attempt to only do business with "Historically Underutilized Businesses". That means, only do business with companies owned by women or racial minorities.
That has given rise to some very awkward phone calls. After a while, the State has decided to compile a list of these "HUBs" to avoid the phone call scenario.
I'm not even going to get into the discussion about whether this policy is a good idea or not -- although I don't doubt that someone will start it.
But it's a fact of life these days.
--add