Did he use the southern honorific “Ma’am” when addressing a black female? That would be racist, yes?
I grew up in a military family, and was taught to call all men “Sir” and all women above the age of 17 as “Ma’am”, and my parents were quite rigid on that.
My parents were from the North and I live in the North, so it is a bit like a fish out of water up here, but...I am not changing now...:)