I'm not employed in that industry but I really feel like it's not just that they don't recognize racism but that they do and respect it, at least as a legitimate point of view--if for no other reason than that the people they want to agree with and be their sources and buddies hold those views.

tbh for all the stuff about the media and academia being liberal echo chambers, as professional workplaces go they seem especially protective of this kind of outright racism

The Bell Curve got a lot of press for a book that was always self-evident scientific racism presented with a British accent.