Doctor Demento says The Globe interjected its "opinion" that making a joke out of slavery, and the "the lash" is offensive.
The Globe's headline has a SJW or liberal bias, he suggests.
I asked for an instance when such an instance would not be offensive.
You didn't provide it.
I have black friends. If at a dinner party you made a joke about them getting "the lash",  I would be offended, and they probably would be also, although not as outraged as these U of T students.
Yes, bad manners are not illegal. But this sort of thing is grossly offensive and should be called out.