10 old shows that were racist but you never knew – This will surprise you!

2. The Lone Ranger

via blog.jimstroud.com

The Lone Ranger has such a history of being offensive, the existing Native American community expressed some backlash toward the Johnny Depp  movie released in 2013. That’s a pretty long time to stay angry about a show that was on the air in the 1950s.

The Native American Tonto was a very one-dimensional, subordinate character in the original Lone Ranger, both as a radio and a televisions series. He was a collection of stereotypes and really only served to set up the show’s titular star. Johnny Depp, who has some Cherokee heritage, took on the role of Tonto for the big screen. Some still found his portrayal to be racist, though Tonto was updated for a new era. By the way, “Tonto” means “stupid” or “foolish” in Spanish.