[raccoonradio]

In the original Sambo tales, I believe he was an Indian boy (Indian as in the Asian subcontinent, not American indians). He was frequently portrayed as dark skinned...the Sambo's restaurant chain was accused of being racist because of its name but it was a tribute to their founders, whose nicknames were Sam and Bo, though some merchandising and advertising related to the chain brought up the old tale.

[serpentineshel]

Some of the banned cartoons mentioned here can be seen here:
http://www.angelfire.com/comics/mov/banned.html

(Not sure if I linked right) Just click on the menu button, then playlist. There are a couple Bugs Bunny, Amos n Andy, Popeye...

[RichRepublican]

In the original Sambo tales, I believe he was an Indian boy (Indian as in the Asian subcontinent, not American indians).

Yes, this is true! The little Golden Book version of Little Black Sambo that I had as a child portrayed him as an Indian child. The clothes described in the story are found in India. Tigers are also found in India. It has always been frustrating to me that Sambo was thought of as "Negro".

[Ditto]

In the original Sambo tales, I believe he was an Indian boy (Indian as in the Asian subcontinent, not American indians). He was frequently portrayed as dark skinned...

That was what I always thought too, It was one of my favorite books when I was a kid, and even then, I knew Tigers were in India, not Africa.

What I got out of it was that Sambo was a really smart kid who made the tigers chase them until they turned into butter --- and then he put them on his pancakes --- and I LOVED pancakes.

I never understood the racism part but back then (at lest where I lived) we did not call Negroes, Black. That would have been an insult. Colored or Negro were fine. But to call them black would have likely started a fight.