I think it could have been slightly offensive if the only physical characteristic that he noticed about the guy was his race. The fact that he remembered the man's glasses and height makes it perfectly reasonable that he'd also remember that the man was Asian.
In a roundabout way, this reminds me of the time that a cop stopped me as I was walking out of the Chinese supermarket and accused me of bypassing the cash registers. Since he was a white guy who couldn't read my receipt (now that I think about it, the fact that he was white is the only physical characteristic that I remember about him, so I guess by my own definition that's slightly offensive), he asked me to describe the cashier that I had gone to. Now, in no way am I implying that all Asians look alike, but you try giving a description of one of the dozen or so female Chinese cashiers that would give him any useful clue as to who you're talking about. "She's fairly thin and short, has dark hair, glasses, and I couldn't even estimate her age within a decade." Thankfully, he allowed me to walk back into the store to point her out, because otherwise I'd have been headed to jail.
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