In the 1960s as social consciousness about black Americans arose, so did criticism of the racism in the Doctor Dolittle books, particularly in the portrayal of Prince Bumpo. Bumpo is a friend of Doctor Dolittle's but also a figure of ridicule. The most offensive episode with Prince Bumpo occurs in The Story of Doctor Dolittle when Bumpo dreams of becoming white after a woman he believed to be Sleeping Beauty rejects him as being too dark. Doctor Dolittle puts a zinc ointment compound on Bumpo's face, which turns white for a time, and his eyes turn a "manly grey."

Words such as "coon" and "nigeress" were also used.

Treatment of Bumpo in The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle were similarly offensive.

In the 1970s critics accused Dolittle of being a racist figure of British colonialism. Lofting was denounced for portraying blacks as comic and childlike figures with...