The easy way to say it was: those guests were turned away because the hosts were racist. But they said it was because of the guests' skin color, and this allows

The easy way to say it was: those guests were turned away because the hosts were racist. But they said it was because of the guests' skin color, and this allows for interpretations. And, like the article says, removes the focus of the behavior away from the hosts' racism, and instead places it on the guests' color. Like the article said, it's discussing race but not discussing racism