The HR bullies and word police take an apology as an admission of guilt and then try even harder to have you punished. That's the lesson this professor has learned. His effort to do the exact things he's "supposed" to do - bow down, apologize, show contrition publicly, offer to feed the very people out for his firing by paying to subject himself to "anti-racism training" - all these things were just seen as admissions of guilt making him even more deserving of punishment. See how it works?