I always thought that George Jefferson disapproving of the Willis interracial marriage and calling Jenny a “zebra” was just for laughs, but later came to learn that there really is some hostility to such marriages and biracial children in the black community. They must have been so conflicted regarding Obozo - do we like him or disapprove of him? A dilemma for some, I’m sure.
Lionel was a good character. There’s a great scene where he chastises Meathead, because Meathead only talks about racial stuff...”Why don’t we ever talk about the weather? Black people have weather too, you know.”
One interesting fact is that the woman who played Helen Willis actually was married to a White man, and they gave birth to singer Lenny Kravitz.