Wouldn’t a guy be blue if he was at the bottom of the pool?
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Safe for whom? Why should Scylla look out for this guy’s interests? He’s the one who made the remark.
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Your concern for the shop owner is touching. But it’s up to hir to decide what course of action to take. S/he can discipline the clerk without firing him. Put him on probation, for instance, or switch him with someone in the stockroom.
I disagree. There is a power imbalance here. The clerk can’t get you fired.
Now, admittedly, that may be a trivial matter. But you don’t know that. The most correct approach is personal, direct, citizen to citizen on an presumed basis of equality, as in:
“I don’t understand why you made this remark. Is there something about me that led you to believe that I would approve of a racist remark? Does it reflect your actual beliefs in this regard? In either instance, you are wrong.”
An apology should end the matter, then and there. Reprove, correct, forgive. “Judge not…”, etc.