Jim:  According to press reports in the UK, that is indeed the case.  According to them, the U of O secretly put Halls on trial for being a racist.  Not only was Halls not given any opportunity to defend himself, but his African American friend who he spoke the alleged racist words to, the acclaimed singer Reginald Mobley, was not even consulted by the University.  

When I first heard rumors about this being the reason for the firing of Halls, I thought that he must have done something super inappropriate, like using the infamous "N" word.   But it turns out that the offensive racist comment was a reference to eating grits.  

You can read more about this in this news report down below, from the British newspaper The Telegraph.   It would seem that the moods and attitudes that existed in Salem, Massachusetts back in 1692 , are flourishing at the U of O in 2017

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/09/british-conductor-sacked-us-music-festival-joke-labelled-racist/

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