Ok. Can we not explain to this person that they fucked up and how, without them losing their livelihood?

You can't read someone's mind over the internet, only their words. The dude used a public company account to send out a racially charged message, it got backlash, his employers saw it, he got fired, then he apologized and claimed he didn't know it was wrong.

I'm saying it doesn't matter what his excuse was after the matter, his unprofessional attitude is what got him in trouble with his boss. People have been fired for less every single day; why should he get a special exception? If he was black he wouldn't even get a second look.

Was this truly evil or misguided?

It doesn't matter which; it was wrong and he screwed over his employer so they kicked him out. He'll have to get a new job and learn to think before he types.