True. Maybe the manager shouldn’t have taken the group at all.
I might even speculate that if the group hadn’t been black, that’s exactly what he would have done. Wouldn’t surprise me a bit if the manager went against his best interests and took the group in order not to appear racist. That would be the great big ironic cherry on top of this whole thing.
Yes, perhaps the manager shouldn’t have made the effort to seat them as requested, but I imagine the first instinct of a restaurant manager is to try to accommodate everyone he or she possibly can, even if it takes more effort (and possibly lower profits) because of the goodwill (read: repeat business) it can generate.
Better communication to the waiting party may have prevented this from becoming a “situation”, but it’s also possible that no amount of effort would have been successful.