Absolutely.
I think there should also be an acknowledgement of reality.
Thurman Thomas and Jim Kelly do not look the same, part of the reason is skin tone.
There should be the ability to mention an objective fact that someone's skin in a visual sense is darker than a whiter persons skin when making a visual point. The same applies to nfl uniforms but of course the emotion is not involved when discussing this.
The 49ers guy expressed an opinion, argument based on an objective reality.
Emotion should be considered but opinions and healthy discussion should not be outlawed due to emotion.