Being a racist does not mean you won't like or support a particular member of the group you're racist towards. Heck, sometimes it means you will assume good things about that person, eg: "I will put Jamal in the anchor position for this race - he's gotta be the fastest runner".
So the fact that Addesa was nice to a black kid on his team doesn't make him not a racist. That said, what Addesa said was worlds different than what Peters said.
In 1989, late in Townshend’s senior year at RPI, coach Mike Addesa was fired after he directed racially charged comments to Townshend and another black teammate, saying something to the effect of, “If you don’t put forth a greater effort, the world will only see you as a stereotypical n—er.” Townshend, who was 23 at the time, said he went directly to Addesa’s office, confronted his coach and they worked out their differences. Addesa’s remarks were subsequently reported by another player to university administration and Addesa was fired. (It should be noted Addesa was hired in later years by the Detroit Red Wings, Flames and Vancouver Canucks as a scout.) Townshend defended Addesa at the time and still does, maintaining it was an isolated, regretful incident.
Basically Addesa was saying the world is racist and used the usual racial term to make his point. Now, that was dumb and not appropriate, but it's far more forgivable. It's way closer to the acting example that was brought up a couple days ago. Not to mention it was addressed between the two right away, and it was also addressed by the school. Addesa got jobs after because his explanation, the player's support and his subsequent actions made that OK.
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