Professor suspended for using Chinese word that sounds like Racial Slur

What I find problematic is that for the sake of racial sensitivity universities are willing to remove teachers even if the teacher hasn't done anything wrong. I agree that racism is a sore point in the current American social atmosphere, but we should not engage in an appeasement doctrine that sacrifices the innocent.

It seems there are three important points being overlooked.

- It seems that the phrase he said was not directly related to the course material.

- He was politely asked to stop saying it.

- He was likely not even pronouncing the phrase correctly and the correct pronunciation does is not easily confused with a racial slur.

> The students said some of them had voiced their concern to Patton during his lecture, but that he’d used the word in following class sections anyway. They also said they’d reached out to fellow Chinese students, who “confirmed that the pronunciation of this word is much different than what Professor Patton described in class. The word is most commonly used with a pause in between both syllables.”

This seems to me that there is an underlying problem/tension between this professor and his students who are people of color.