The casting issue

Arab
In 1921, Paramount Pictures released the Rudolph Valentino movie The Sheik. The movie itself was a box office success but showed Arabs as savage beasts who auction off their own women. The film was followed up a few years later with The Son of the Sheik, which also portrayed racist overtones. Rudolph was even asked by a New York Times reporter once whether or not his well-off character could fall for a savage (an Arab woman). To Valentino's credit, he responded by saying: "People are not savages because they have dark skins. The Arabian civilization is one of the oldest in the world...the Arabs are dignified and keen brained."[3] In his essay "Arabs in Hollywood: An Undeserved Image", Scott J. Simon argues that of all the ethnic groups portrayed in Hollywood films, "Arab culture has been the most misunderstood and supplied with the worst stereotypes":

Rudolph Valentino's roles in The Sheik (1921) and The Son of the Sheik (1926) set the stage for the exploration and negative portrayal of Arabs in Hollywood films. Both The Sheik and The Son of the Sheik represented Arab characters as thieves, charlatans, murderers, and brutes.[4]

He also singled out A Son of the Sahara (1924) as "the strongest subconscious attack on the Arab culture of all the Arab movies of the 1920s"

Asian
Racism against East Asian peoples in Hollywood roles also began in the 1920s. Charlie Chan (actually based on the real Chang Apana), a supposed "good Asian" was used as an antithesis to Fu Manchu, the so-called "bad Asian". In 1923, the British silent film serial The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu came out. This movie ushered in the beginning of decades of movies with the Fu Manchu theme. In 1929, the American film The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu starring Warner Oland came out. The Show of Shows was released the same year and featured a stereotypical setting with Nick Lucas and Myrna Loy.

Several Hollywood movies continue to portray Asian destinations as underdeveloped or of being lived in by savages. This includes showing elephant as a primary mode of transport in modern India or any of the similar stereotypes that has no resemblance to reality.

Native Americans

Throughout the early 1900s, many films that perpetuate stereotypes about Native Americans were made, in particular the stereotype of the "Noble Savage". The roles of Native Americans were usually reserved for Caucasian actors. The portrayal of indigenous Americans of the silent era most notably remains The Last of the Mohicans (1920).[why?]

In 1936, the Three Stooges mocked Native Americans in the comedy short, "Whoops, I'm an Indian!"

Whitewshing in film
In the early 20th century, white actors caricatured different races by wearing blackface or yellowface, commonly exaggerating the perceived stereotypes of other races. For example, Swedish born white actor Warner Oland played the Chinese detective Charlie Chan in Charlie Chan Carries On (1931) and subsequent films. Because of the lack of characters of color in the film industry, these roles were well received at the time by minorities.[3] Other non-Asian actors to portray Chinese detective Charlie Chan include Manuel Arbó, Sidney Toler, Roland Winters, Ross Martin and Peter Ustinov.

Films became more racially integrated by the mid-20th-century, and blackface mostly disappeared from the film industry. The film Othello (1965) was an exception, as the white actor Laurence Olivier was cast as "the Moor." He wore blackface as the title character. In Soul Man and Tropic Thunder white actors portray white characters that use blackface.

The practice of "yellowface" extended into the 1960s. For instance, Mickey Rooney played a Japanese[4] landlord in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961).[3] Professor David A. Schlossman said of Asian characters in particular, "Many of the Asian roles portrayed by White actors also contributed to the pantheon of racial stereotypes in US national discourse."[5] At the start of the 21st century, minorities were still under-represented in the film industry at different stages. While historically black roles are now generally cast with black actors, the practice of whitewashing applied to other minorities.

Guy Aoki said African Americans "have long felt the full brunt of the 'whitewashing' of roles" and that Asians have experienced it as well.Native Americans have also had their historic leaders and warriors portrayed by whites.

Examples of associated cases

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitewashing_in_film