I didn't lump him in with racists. I explicitly said the opposite. I just used racist views as an example of an opinion you're not allowed to share, even if asked for your opinion on racial matters.

Since you missed it, the point was this: it's irrelevant that he posted it on a company board that was asking for opinions, so stop trying to use that as a defense. If you want to defend what he said, go nuts. We can argue the merits and whether Google overreacted. Just don't whine, "but they asked his opinions!" as though that's some sort of shield.