History Main / InnocentBigot

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' of Creator/AAPessimal, Johanna Smith-Rhodes is from the Disc's expy of [[UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra apartheid]] UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica. She has never really questioned her society's attitudes to black people before. Arriving in Ankh-Morpork, aged nineteen, she still believes the white race is superior and that black people are The White Man's Burden; that they are a few levels below the whites because the gods ordained this and as such are more to be pitied than scolded. It takes a few difficult encounters -- such as speaking to a black Howondalandian pupil at the Assassins' School in a pidgin of native words drawn from several languages and treating a girl who is a Zulu Princess on the same level as if she were a Bantu housemaid or field-hand -- for her to start realising that it might be best to leave AmoralAfrikaner ways at home and do differently.

Very often TruthInTelevision, particularly due to differing social values between cultures and even between different points in a nation's history. InnocentlyInsensitive is the supertrope. The character might grow into a TroubledSympatheticBigot, especially if CerebusSyndrome ensues. Other related tropes include CondescendingCompassion, FairForItsDay, TheIngenue, MistakenForRacist, ObliviouslyEvil, RacistGrandma, ValuesDissonance, VirginityMakesYouStupid, YouKnowImBlackRight, YouAreACreditToYourRace, and NotLikeOtherGirls. For honest error rather than honest ignorance, see NobleBigot.

* As shown in the page quote, Quasimodo from ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'' was raised to believe that Romani are sinful and evil by his adoptive father [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain Claude Frollo]]. He blatantly tells Esmeralda that she's "[[YouAreACreditToYourRace not like the others]]" because she's not evil like "other gypsies". There's some irony to this in that Quasimodo is actually Romani himself, though he doesn't know it.

* Scout in ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird'' initially is like this due to being a young child who lives in the Deep South during the 1930s, and as a result does not seem to realize for instance that the n-word is offensive at first. As she grows older she realizes the effects of racism and prejudice and averts this trope.

-->-- '''Quasimodo''', ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney''

[[folder:Real Life]]
* A lot of non-blacks have preconceived notions of how black people sound like, and some may say "You/He/She sound(s) very white" when taken aback by the fact that a brown-skinned American, whether a Website/{{YouTube}}r who rarely shows their face or a voice actress, is capable of speaking with a (white?) General American accent.
* Some cultures may have terms for groups of people that are not meant to be offensive (or at least, [[GetTheeToANunnery no longer considered offensive]]) and may be spoken with no ill intent, but still sound rather bigoted to western audiences. For example, in UsefulNotes/HongKong, a white person may be referred to as a 鬼 ("ghost" or "devil") and an Indian as 阿星 (corruption of common Indian surname "Singh") without it being malicious.
* British people are often taken aback to be told that in the USA, the word "Jap" is a pejorative term for Japanese and Japanese-American people. Unless you are part of the dwindling number of older people with [=WW2=] experience, this genuinely is not intended as an insult[[note]]Fourteenth Army veterans tend to have even more blistering words for their wartime enemy[[/note]]. "Jap" is just an abbreviated version of "Japanese". And then there's the [[JewishAmericanPrincess other meaning of JAP]].
* In some Eastern European countries which are predominantly white but lack any colonial history and have historically not been visited by many black people, translations of "negro" until recently was used in a neutral, non-racist context, as a synonym for "black". Additionally, rap fans, in particular, tend to assume NWordPrivileges due to PopCulturalOsmosis since they lack the knowledge about why the N-word is racist when not said by black people. This trend has only been decreasing in the recent decade due to exposure to the Internet.
** ''Negro'' itself is purely and simply the Spanish word for the colour "black".
** Italians used the word ''negro'' as a descriptive for black people until TheSixties when it was discouraged from use, and more neutral terms such as ''nero'' and ''di colore'' became substitutions for the older word.
* Many people in Japan have never spoken to a foreigner in their life, and the only things they know about foreign cultures are what they've seen on TV. As a result, many Japanese people believe that stereotypes about foreigners are reflective of reality.
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'''The Doctor:''' Fu Peng? He must be Hokien.\\

* In ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'', Kenny wonders if Lee, the African-American protagonist can pick a lock, on account of him being... [[LastSecondWordSwap "Urban"]]. Lee is mildly offended before Kenny apologises, claiming that crazy shit just comes out of his mouth because he's from [[OnlyInFlorida Florida]].

* ''Webcomic/ThePetriDish'': A RunningGag with Thaddeus. He doesn't dislike black people, in fact whenever it's Black History Month, he tries to celebrate them. Unfortunately, he does so by stroking a black person's afro, wearing a dreadlocked wig and [[WelcomeToTheCaribbeanMon using words like "irie" and "mon"]], and changing his skin to black and his hair to an afro, all the while using words like "trippin'".

->'''Rick''': ''(playing cowboy)'' "Ugh! Me give 'em up! No more shoot 'em! Me make 'em heap good deal! Me make 'em..."
->'''Native American Boy''': "Indians don't talk like that!"
-->-- ''Series/SesameStreet''

->''"But you're not like other gypsies. They're... evil!"''
-->-- '''Quasimodo''', ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney''

* In ''WesternAnimation/APupNamedScoobyDoo'', one episode has Shaggy and Scooby excited to meet Daphne's Native American boyfriend... however, they greet him in TontoTalk, not realising that's offensive.

* ''Webcomic/ThePetriDish'': A RunningGag with Thaddeus. He doesn't dislike black people, in fact whenever it's Black History Month, he tries to celebrate them. Unfortunately, he does so by stroking a black person's afro, wearing a dreadlocked wig and [[WelcomeToTheCarribeanMon using words like "irie" and "mon"]], and changing his skin to black and his hair to an afro, all the while using words like "trippin'".

So you've got a really nice character who comes from a sheltered background. They could be a ShelteredAristocrat or SpoiledSweet, or maybe they grew up in a culturally homogeneous community, like a time traveler from a [[ValuesDissonance much less global society]]. They're not used to dealing with people from other ethnic/religious/etc. groups, but that doesn't mean they have a problem with those groups. Far from it! In fact, they probably think other cultures are really exotic and cool and wouldn't it be awesome to have a TokenBlackFriend? This is part of the problem.

Innocent Bigotry is often portrayed as [[GoodFlawsBadFlaws a relatively sympathetic flaw]] (which can lead to UnfortunateImplications if it's not ultimately suggested that the character ought to take some responsibility for thinking about whether they're doing something offensive). In fact, in a setting in which most other characters are the hardened and mean-spirited kind of bigot, the Innocent Bigot might even be the ''hero''. If the Innocent Bigot is a minor character, it will be PlayedForLaughs and used to characterize them as well-meaning but also shallow and self-absorbed. If they're a major character, though, expect them to be called on their prejudice. They will be genuinely shocked and remorseful, and probably thank the person who challenged them for [[CharacterDevelopment opening their eyes]]. (Rarely do they instead become defensive and hostile, as often happens in RealLife.)

%%* ''Literature/HuckleberryFinn'' is understandably like this towards Jim.

* In ''Literature/SpinningSilver'', Wanda initially thinks of the Mandelstam family as "servants of the Devil" because they're Jewish, but despite the term doesn't have any ill feeling towards them. She asks Panov[[note]]Mister[[/note]] Mandelstam if he's saying a magic spell over their dinner, which unsettles the Mandelstams, but he politely explains that it's a prayer. Because the Mandelstams are much kinder to Wanda than her own father, she begins to see them as family herself, and she later gets some insight to how it was for them in the village when she accompanies them to the Jewish quarter of the city and feels distinctly out-of-place there.

** Depending on the language, it can even be the other way round. That Dutch word for "negro" can be used in a neutral context. The Dutch word for "black" referring to a person is considered an insult.

* In ''Film/RushHour'', Creator/JackieChan's character inadvertently provokes a brawl after saying "What's up, my n***a?" to a black bartender right after he saw Creator/ChrisTucker's character say it, not realizing it's considered offensive [[NWordPrivileges when a non-black says it]].

* Young BJ Blazkowicz is revealed to have been one in ''VideoGame/WolfensteinIITheNewColossus'', largely due to his father being an AbusiveParent who [[NeverMyFault blamed everyone else for his failing business]]. Upon Billy's first meeting with [[NamesTheSame Billie]], a young black girl, he runs down the LongList of why his daddy wouldn't want him playing with her while looking for tadpoles to catch.

* Creator/RussellPeters picked up his young daughter once while he was listening to Music/{{NWA}}. It's DirtyRap, so inevitably she starts singing along the N-word, his attempts to replace it with "potato" in vain. (Although she wasn't using it against anyone, even accidentally; she was just singing along, making this more akin to InnocentSwearing in general.)

* Creator/RussellPeters picked up his young daughter once while he was listening to Music/{{NWA}}. It's explicit rap, so inevitably she starts singing along the N-word, his attempts to replace it with "potato" in vain. (Although she wasn't using it against anyone, even accidentally; she was just singing along, making this more akin to InnocentSwearing in general.)

-->-- '''Quasimodo''', ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}''

* Creator/RussellPeters picked up his young daughter once while he was listening to Music/{{NWA}}. It's explicit rap, so inevitably she starts singing along the N-word, his attempts to replace it with "potato" in vain. (Although she wasn't using it against anyone, even accidentally; she was just singing along.)

* Creator/RussellPeters picked up his young daughter once while he was listening to Music/{{NWA}}. It's explicit rap, so inevitably she starts singing along the N-word, his attempts to replace it with "potato" in vain. Although she wasn't using it against anyone, even accidentally; she was just singing along.

* Creator/RussellPeters picked up his young daughter once while he was listening to Music/{{NWA}}. It's explicit rap, so inevitably she starts singing along the N-word, his attempts to replace it with "potato" in vain.

* Creator/RussellPeters picked up his young daughter once while he was listening to [=Music/NWA=]. It's explicit rap, so inevitably she starts singing along the N-word, his attempts to replace it with "potato" in vain.

* Creator/RussellPeters picked up his young daughter once while he was listening to Music/NWA. It's explicit rap, so inevitably she starts singing along the N-word, his attempts to replace it with "potato" in vain.