It's illegal for them to ask you that question, but I'm saying states it's also illegal to not have a perfect balance of races employed. As a direct result, you can expect targeted hiring based on race :/
Asking about age is similarly problematic. If the applicant has 20 years of experience, they may be approaching 40, and it's illegal in the US to discriminate against job applicants over 40 years of age.
Any company with a sane HR department would immediately freak out and fire their recruiter for asking these kinds of questions, which expose the company to legal liability.
Thanks.