Is ‘The Lion King’ Racist?

The characters in the real-life story were humans, not animals

We’ve all sat with our kids to watch the iconic cartoon movie, “The Lion King.”

The 2019 remake is the largest grossing animated movie of all time — $1.7 billion and counting. The popular Broadway version of the show marks its 25th year this month.

It’s a fascinating story of a young lion, Simba, the son and heir of King Musafa. Musafa’s brother plots to take the throne by luring Musafa into a stampede of wildebeests. Musafa dies, but young Simba survives and leaves the kingdom. Simba returns to his home years later as an adult to reclaim his rightful place.

One might think the movie is just a cute fictional tale about the king of the jungle. Another story of good beating out bad.

It turns out, Disney didn’t make up the story.

In real life, the characters in the movie weren’t animals. They were real African heroes and people who played important roles in the lives and freedom of West Africans.

“The Lion King” is really about the story of the great human African king, Sundiata Keita, known as The Lion of Mali. King Sundiata was the founder of the great Malian Empire, which in the 1200s was the greatest kingdom in…