Racist Tweet or Badly Planned Joke?

(12/23/2013) A PR executive tweeted a 'racist' message before she flew to Africa for vacation:

This message stirred a huge controversy and Justine Sacco was immediately fired by her employer. Justine Sacco immediately apologized on the Internet: "Sacco apologized "for being insensitive to this crisis -- which does not discriminate by race, gender or sexual orientation, but which terrifies us all uniformly -- and to the millions of people living with the virus, I am ashamed."".

But several people who knows Justine Sacco think it was a badly planned joke. One reporter who had contacted Justine Sacco describes "“I think she was more mocking the aloofness white people can have on this issue, not celebrating that aloofness,” says one friend."

I think he has a point.