Actually, I’d say that Norman Lear portrayed Archie Bunker as a guy, who underneath it all, was a decent person, but was programmed to be a bigot by his upbringing.
The message of All In The Family was that prejudice is learned behavior, which is why it’s so important to not expose children to bigotry.
On one hand, I think All In The Family was very nasty in it’s partisanship. Yet the fact that, in the end, Archie usually wound up doing the right thing, contributed to the show’s popularity, as viewers saw him as a complex and conflicted character.
If anything, Norman Lear may have questioned if viewers were sympathetic to Archie for the reasons he wanted them to be sympathetic, or if they simply cheered on his bigotry.
Hmm...Rob “Meathead” Reiner has yet to weigh in on the current s***storm debate.
And let’s remember that Carroll O’Connor was a flaming liberal determined to make Archie Bunker look evil. He must have suffered the same chagrin as Norman Lear as the audience laughed with Archie & not at him.