Refuting a supposedly racist hadith

Assalamualaikum.
In this short article, we will be examining a common claim made by anti-islam polemicists against one of the sayings of the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.
The claim, in short, is that he uttered a statement that could be considered racist.
before we go into the hadith, let’s look at what the prophet truely taught about racism.
The prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said, in the following hadith.
Musnad Ahmad 22978:
There is no favor of an Arab over a foreigner, nor a foreigner over an Arab, and neither white skin over black skin, nor black skin over white skin, except by righteousness.
This is a clear statement in which the prophet peace be upon him is condemning racism by saying that there is no superiority of an arab over a non-arab, nor white over black, nor black over white. Rather, the prophet says that the superiority is in piety, IE righteousness and good action.
Now that we know what the prophet truely said about racism, let us examine the supposed racist hadith in question and deal with the argument.
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 89, Number 256:
Allah’s Apostle said, "You should listen to and obey, your ruler even if he was an Ethiopian (black) slave whose head looks like a raisin."
Many Christians, atheists, or anti-Islamic polemicists point to this hadith to state that the prophet, peace be upon him, made a racist statement. However, from a plain reading of the text, this is not so.
Nowhere in this verse does the prophet ever say that Ethiopians, or black people, are all deformed in such a manner. Rather, the prophet is trying to convey that one should obey their ruler, even if he had this deformity. This is not racist at all, rather it is the opposite.
For instance, if I say, you should obey your ruler even if he is a Japanese man with one arm, it would be preposterous to interpret my statement as offensive to Japanese people.
Furthermore, academics such as Bernard Louis, note that this particular text uses an Arabic principle known as trajectio ad . absurdum. This is when a principle is asserted, and an extreme example is given, in order to show that the principle still applies under that example.
its really that easy. There is no racism in this hadith. The prophet, peace be upon him, spoke out against racism many times. if you want to see racist statements, stick around for articles in which we demonstrate racist statements from the bible!