I, too, had a racial mental breakdown which occurred while refereeing a hockey game. The two teams had line up to take a face off with me dropping the puck. As often happens players on both sides were edging too close together. This is a personal pet peeve of mine – you’re adults, learn how to line up properply – but I digress. I told the first player (white male, white jersey) “White, on your side”. Then, to the second player (black male, red jersey), “Black, on your side”. Immediately I realized my mistake and promptly dropped the puck. I felt like a huge jackass and was very, very vigilent of getting my jersey colors right in the future.
The moral of the story? Sometimes things get mixed up and people’s neurons misfire. It doesn’t make me a racist, just human. They should cut this guy some slack.