Of course it was racially motivated.
Considering my own ethnic background I hate to say this but, well...
Every time I've seen someone overreact to a slight to the point of violence and generally be loud AND disagreeable it's been a black person.
What I mean is, I've seen white people do the same, but it's been around other whites. But when blacks do this, it is ALWAYS a white or Asian or Latin person they are yelling at, and often they are displaying for all the non-blacks watching.
I saw it happen on the subway in Philly, my Korean-American ex-gf asked me about it unprovoked(she worked in fast food while going to school.)
Hell, my current gf was jogging here in Seattle and someone called her a "white faggot."
Basically, this is a pretty common pattern. It may be as much a function of class as ethnicity, though.
Sometimes it's more class than race. My mother was driving to work and this old white man starts yelling at her you effing niggers need to stop talking on the cellphone,etc. etc.etc. That would not be the first time my mother has been called nigger by a white person, or called a nigger and said she should be sent back to her country. She's never beat up anyone or gotten loud at all, and never called the police either. If that guy had said that to one of the bruthas around where I work, he would have gotten capped on the spot. That's how the low class responds to insults. And you can tell this gal is low class by how many MF's come out of her mouth. I, OTOH, have called the police on customers who have racially insulted me because they think because they're black they can get away with insulting non-blacks. I work alone and take racial epithets seriously. I've not been bothered in a long time.
Well, the same applies to many Nuyoricans as well, but otherwise I agree. Hell, my current gf was jogging here in Seattle and someone called her a "white faggot."
I was once called a "Batty Boy" by a group of Flatbush street urchins while waiting for the subway at Grand Army Plaza. I winked at them and they seemed to get a kick out of it. Threw them off guard.