In fairness, Kong is a giant gorrilla, so I've always struggled to give that reading too much credence, though there is a trend in other films of the time. Obviously the depiction of the natives has racist undertones, that much I do agree with.

But yes, Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte are both legends. And let's not forget the groundbreaking Duane Jones in Night of the Living Dead. Both my children immediately understood the critique of racist America in that one when I showed it to them. :)