On Wednesday, the CEO and founder of Papa John’s Pizza, John Schnatter, resigned as chairman of his company. The reason for his resignation was media blowback over allegations that he had used a racial slur. In a statement explaining his decision to step down, Schnatter said, “News reports attributing the use of inappropriate and hurtful language to me during a media training session regarding race are true. Regardless of the context, I apologize. Simply stated, racism has no place in our society.”

So, was Schnatter justifiably outed as a racist? Sadly, the facts of the story show otherwise. Rather, it appears a leftist “social justice” lynch mob — offended by Schnatter’s complaint last year over NFL players protesting the national anthem and his support of Donald Trump — finally procured its pound of flesh. As Business Insider reports:

Schnatter’s resignation comes a day after the executive was reported to have used the N-word during a May conference call with a marketing agency. The purpose of the call was to address the backlash after Schnatter suggested the NFL and some of its players’ national-anthem demonstrations drove down the pizza chain’s sales in 2017.

“On the May call, Schnatter was asked how he would distance himself from racist groups online,” a source said in a Forbes report Wednesday. “He responded by downplaying the significance of his NFL statement. ‘Colonel Sanders called blacks n—s,’ Schnatter allegedly said, before complaining that Sanders never faced public backlash.”

The source added that although Schnatter intended for his remarks to show his stance against racism, multiple people found it objectionable. Schnatter admitted he made the remarks and apologized.

The irony here is that Schnatter was actually working to fight against true racism. The problem is Schnatter has the wrong color skin. You see, he’s white and male, so according to social justice warriors, he’s not allowed to think or say anything, let alone attempt to explain how his comments on NFL players protesting was not racist, unlike Colonel Sanders, who used to call blacks the N-word. Often, the refrain used by social justice warriors is how our nation needs to engage in serious conversations about race. But how exactly are those conversations supposed to happen if people of a certain race are blasted for attempting to explain their position? The answer — they’re not. The Left, as it has demonstrated time and again, is not interested in any dialogue or conversation. Rather, its demand is silent and full acquiescence to its ideological demands. Nothing else will be tolerated.

Schnatter has experienced the sad reality of modern American society where intent is irrelevant if someone is offended. Because he broke a cardinal rule of the racist Left, there is no forgiveness, no reasoning, no absolution; he must be destroyed.