It doesn't appear to be optional. And to make it worse, it appears that martial races now get to feel oh-so-martial by getting gear proficiencies instead. Which offers absolutely no advantage for martial classes but might be of some use for spellcaster classes.
Thus we seemingly have the ass backwards result that the best spellcasters are martial races with no inherent flair for spellcasting and the best warrior types are squishy races with no inherent talent for combat. Want to be a front line brawler? No, don't pick dwarf, pick elf! Want to be a master sorcerer? No, don't pick elf, pick dwarf or dragonborn!
