Wow. This concerns me.
I completely agree. Even with the most charitable explanation, that is totally unacceptable. I have confidence Tulane will do the right thing, depending on what they find in terms of other incidents or remarks by this person. But even if an isolated slip where no racial overtones were intended (like when people say “that is the 800 pound gorilla in the room”), I think it cannot go completely unpunished in this day and age.
I also object to this though:
He should have stopped after “…(if) more than just an isolated incident”. I am so tired of armchair commentators spouting off based on nothing but one side presented in a brief report. You don’t change an entire system if it turns out he meant it in a non-racial way but is guilty of colossal stupidity at that moment. Even if he meant it in a racial way, you fire the guy. Unless they find a whole vein of racists in the department, which based on what I know about it is unbelievably unlikely to the point of being absurd, why would you change a whole system? Unfortunately, most racists know enough not to advertise their true beliefs. They slip into jobs where they would otherwise have been excluded every day. Now if it is endemic somehow, that is a different story. But let’s slow down on the “it looks like…” statements, Dr. Cazenave.