Backgrounds and Races

Some of the backgrounds and races I own the books to, or have a shared book, don't come up in when I try to create a character. Specifically Spelljamer and Planescape. What could be going on or What are some things I can try to fix this?

I think it’s a mixed bag. It feels like they were trying to open things up so that players didn’t feel the need to pick a specific species over another for class, but they shuffled it over to backgrounds instead, which is more of a sidestep than anything.

One thing I generally disagree with is that everything needs to be optimal. I think it’s okay for some choices to be better than others. I think the goal should be that things are viable, not necessarily optimal. https://vidmate****/  

But I’m old and coming from 1e where it wasn’t that things weren’t viable, it’s that they weren’t even possible.

Also, it seems weird to me that a Halfling would be conceptually as strong as say a Goliath, but honestly it’s not all that big of a deal.