I am not a fan of them, I always feel compelled to pick something because of the racial then.
And sometimes it's even kinda enforced, I know that it was in WoW Classic when I went back at least especially for Classes like Priests where they also got unique spells.

In the end of the day I think it just in effect makes for less choice.
I think that SWTOR does it the best because the racials are fluff, Twi'lek gets a unique dance and Humans get a Rally emote.
In FFXIV we get unique cultural sets.