I saw the re-release of SOTS in 1986 as a six-year-old. There was nothing racist to me in the movie. I have a degree in history and have always had a keen interest in history, even back then. I knew there were people who were slaves but SOTS did not seem to me then to in any way trivialize their lives. They were dressed in clothes that seemed to be more dingy than the white people in the movie. I thought more about how funny the child looked in frills than the glamorization of slavery. People need to see this movie via a child's eyes and realize that if they are properly raised without a lot of racist BS, than the story carries the message Walt Disney intended, that of fables.
Me, too. Was there any controversy surrounding that release? At the time I only read the funny pages.