Uhm, the film was filmed before the term "racist" became a, how shall we put it, a fashion statement.
The Wayne character, Ethan Edwards is not someone to be admired. I respect the characters iron will, despise the brutality and the racism. The Searchers I think was Ford’s attempt to show just how horribly the Indians, excuse me, native Americans were treated. And in many ways the enemy that we see, is often times and extension of ourselves. Scar and Ethan Edwards are very similar characters, almost cut from the same cloth.