Narnia.

I recently started rereading the Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis' sprawling set of "children's" novels soon to hit the big screen. I was first exposed when my father read them aloud when I was very young; I seem to remember reading them myself repeatedly until shortly after puberty.

I remembered the blatant and moderately unwelcome religious overtones. But, given the author's pedigree, I was never all that surprised. But having just launched into The Horse and His Boy--either the fifth or third book in the series, depending how you count--I was surprised to note the not-terribly-subtle racism that oozes from the text. It just reminded me that not too long ago it was perfectly acceptable to put pale skin hierarchically above dark skin.