Something says to me that if he said "Europeans" instead, it would be ok. Of course, it is hard for me to back up this claim, other than with the anecdotal data that such comments are common on (liberal) Twitter and the like. In a world with so many protected classes, this former head of diversity made the really foolish mistake of not making a remark at the expense of one of the lesser protected classes, instead.

Edit: found in a related comment that he did make such a comment, and that those such comments are precisely the ones not really mentioned or cared about in the media...