And a Snopes fact check about the study.

>The project does not seek to find evidence that the present day use of white paint is racist, but to investigate the possibility that the invention and commercial success of titanium white paint contributed to socially toxic views around race. To that point, Halland describes archival research showing "advertising posters from the 20s that connect the color white to human purity, and thus also to skin colour."

Seems like a legitimate study that explores the intersection of racism, marketing, and art history. This is how academia works, folks: people explore ideas and write papers about them. It furthers our understanding of the world and how things are related.