History MistakenForRacist / LiveActionTV

* An episode of ''Series/{{Becker}}'' revolves around the title character making comments that a journalist construes as racist (such as making fun of a blind black man, insulting an Asian taxi driver, complaining about a neighbour who plays rap music and one who barbecues his dinner on the sidewalk etc.), leading him to write an article attacking him. Becker confronts him during a radio interview and clears himself by pointing out that the blind man happens to be his best friend, his neighbor ''literally does'' cook his dinner on the sidewalk, and he has every right to not like rap music (especially when being played loudly and being broadcast into a public street), and to be angry with a driver who just crashed into his car, regardless of where he came from. Becker then counters by pointing out that he never mentioned that his neighbor was Puerto Rican or any other race and that Tetzloff jumped to that conclusion based solely on the "barbecuing on the sidewalk" comment.

* ''Series/CobraKai'': Season 2 had Daniel create an advertisement for Miyagi-Do karate, heavily incorporating Japanese themes both as a nod towards its origins and as a tribute towards his own sensei, Mr. Miyagi. Unfortunately, the fact that Daniel is white results in him getting hounded on the internet over accusations of cultural appropriation.

* Every other episode of ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm'' (Hmm, Creator/LarryDavid must love this trope.)

** Subverted in an episode where Kelso refers to Elliot as a "nagger". A black intern then comes by and angrily asks what he said, to which he clarifies things and the issue is quickly dropped.

'''"Snoop Dogg Intern"''': What did you just call them, you punkass?!\\

** Jay has security cameras installed, coincidentally the same day a Black family moves in across the street. He's worried they'll think he's a racist old white man and put in the cameras because of the, and gets his Black friend to stand in the front yard with him to prove he's not racist. The dad of the family tells Jay not to worry about it and he knows the cameras were a coincidence. "This isn't my first time moving into a white neighbourhood."

** There's an episode where the Janitor tricks JD into looking racist by positioning himself between JD and an Asian doctor in order to block the doctor from JD's view, then asking for help with his crossword puzzle.

* In an episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'', a suspect intentionally sets his mentally ill brother up to look like a neo-Nazi. It turned out the brother just had some stong opinions on people of ''any'' race changing their appearance, and he's horrified when he realizes what his brother had made him out to be.

* ''In Series/{{Monk}}'', the titular character's OCD manifests, among other ways, as needing to be germ-free, so he always uses a disinfecting wipe after shaking hands with someone. In "Mr. Monk and the Marathon Man," this becomes a problem when his assistant Sharona can't get the wipes out in time, and he's forced to shake hands with three people one right after the other (ordinarily he would clean up between each greeting). The first two are white women, and the third is a Black man--and it's after Monk shakes ''his'' hand that Sharona gets the wipes ready, making Monk look like he only felt the need to clean up after touching someone of a different race. He tries to explain, but it doesn't go over well.

* Absolutely every [[strike:[[AcceptableTargets white]]]] non-black person the [[MalcolmXerox Militant Black Guy]] talks to in ''Series/BallsOfSteel'' due to the usage of words spoken causing ''very'' UnfortunateImplications from both sides.

* On ''Series/TheThinBlueLine'', when the Mayoress orders Raymond to arrest an illegal immigrant, she forgets to give him a description of what the man looks like, so he and his officers just arrest the man who opened the door. Unfortunately, he not only ''isn't'' the illegal alien, but he's also black ''and'' the European Commissioner for Human Rights. Learning of the man's real identity, Raymond is horrified: "A ''[[AcceptableTargets Frenchman]]''? In ''my'' station?!"

** Another episode had a retiring executive give a speech that he credited Drew with helping him write. The speech proceeded to explain his extremely racist hiring policies, such as "I like to keep all the blacks in security because they know how to get the stolen stuff back. They just go over to their cousin's house and there it is!". All of the minority co-workers angrily confront Drew at his desk afterward, except one who defends him by saying "Come on people, Drew's no racist. [[HollywoodDateless He's asked out and been rejected by women of every race, color, and creed!]]".