I'm very skeptical of this move, its sustainability in the medium term, and I overall really dislike Uber as a business, but equality is NOT the point.
Society is already unequal, you cannot wish it away with a magic wand.
The way to address inequality, is to think in terms of equity:
http://betterbikeshare.org/2019/10/24/equity-vs-equality/
Also, this is obviously not an example of racism. Racism can be defined as:
"prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior."
The term that you're looking for is Affirmative action, defined as:
"Affirmative action is a policy in which an individual's color, race, sex, religion or national origin are taken into account to increase opportunities provided to an underrepresented part of society"