Actually you got away with a LOT more in the '70s because almost always it was spoofing or implicitly criticizing that attitude. Remember the Chevy Chase/Richard Pryor SNL skit (http://snltranscripts.jt.org/75/75ginterview.phtml) where they threw out not only the N-word but a bunch of others? You could *never* get away with that today, even if it was meant as parody or criticism. And what about Blazing Saddles? The '70s were just different.

If Archie was dressed that way, then it was seen as bigoted, because Archie had been established as a bigoted character. But Ricky was a much more sympathetic character, so it's worse that he's dressed like that--they really did know better in the '50s.