I'm not saying that either person is right or wrong here, but the fact of the matter is that we're so politically correct and wishy washy today that you can't say or do anything that may, even in the slightest, "offend" someone.
Stories like these really blow up because of the PC news generation. Everyone hears stories like this for years and low and behold, we have a bunch of whiny babies who bitch and complain at any sign of what they see as "racism."
I'm sorry but sometimes you have to make judgement calls based on people's ethnicity, area you're in, etc. for example, if I saw a sketchy looking - pants sagging, hat on sideways, huge chains, etc. - black guy walking towards me on the sidewalk in a shady area of town where gangs rule the land, I would walk on the other side of the street. Does this mean I'm racist? Absolutely not. I would do the same thing, in fact, with anyone who looked like that, especially at night in a bad area of the city, and avoid them.
Sure, nothing may happen and odds are I'll be fine, but I'm not taking that chance. To me, that doesn't mean I'm racist....it means I'm making a judgement call based on the circumstances and situation. I understand that not all blacks, Mexicans, and whites are "bad." But I'm also not ignorant to the facts of each ethnicities bad side.