How did the "Code of Honor" episode ever make it on the air?

https://www.reddit.com/r/startrek/comments/369pnx/code_of_honor_racist/

Lutan was all about Tasha Yar--a blonde-haired White human female--and went through subterfuge to get her. Given the race relations of the 20th Century as related to the American viewers (whose own worlds were not so far removed from the ideas of Jim Crow, slavery, European standards/symbols of beauty and purity, the White Slave Traffic Act of 1910, and negative connotations of Black/White interracial relationships), this paints Lutan as some sort of kidnapper who wants to sully Lt. Yar's purity by absconding with her in defiance of the established Starfleet authority.

Though Worf is played by a Black actor, even he had an issue with the episode and the character Lutan--both on-camera and off-camera. You don't see Lutan and Worf onscreen together much. I often think of the episode as the "space-nigger" episode, b/c I imagine it and think of Worf's face and what he'd say and it often comes out as "petaQ space-nigger". That, and how Lutan may be how some people (probably the writers/directors of the show at the time) often imagine Black people behave in certain situations. It's indicative of several problems in Hollywood in the late 20th Century.

The stereotypes expressed in the episode (backwards alien humanoid culture that resembled an African culture) and in this post (racism having to do with "fried chicken and watermelon") are also an issue. You know who else likes fried chicken and watermelon? Chinese people, White Southerners, and I wouldn't put it past the Tellarites. The expression of internalized racism in all of these ways highlights the problem with the depictions of the alien Ligonians when compared to the human Bringloidians of "Up the Long Ladder".

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/OldShame/LiveActionTV

Everyone on the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation feels this way about "Code of Honor", an episode so charged with racial stereotypes and Unfortunate Implications and outright racism that it's kind of hard to watch. The plot is that there is a planet of aliens who look exactly like humans of African descent and dress in a mix of stereotype of what Shaka's warriors might wear and leopard-skin hot pants. This would be bad enough. However, the leader of these tribes is a somewhat sexist man who falls for blond-haired Lt. Yar, kidnaps her, and tries to get his "number one wife" killed via a duel with Yar. Their society actually follows tribal-style concepts of status and honor, including a "counting coup." And the Enterprise crew can't simply decide to have no part in any of this nonsense because the people of this planet have a vaccine which is vital to the survival of another planet, but are so wrapped up in their contests of honor that they will not release it until the Enterprise crew plays along. So you have African stereotypes kidnapping a pretty white woman to marry her, necessitating the pretty white woman's companions to try to save her while she has to fight an enraged, jealous African female. Who the hell thought this was a good idea?

For what it's worth, the aliens weren't written to be black in the script. Wil Wheaton explains that it was because the director was such a horrible racist, when they found out, they quickly replaced him.

https://www.quora.com/Is-the-Star-Trek-TNG-first-season-episode-Code-of-Honor-a-bad-episode-because-Denise-Crosby-is-a-bad-actor-or-is-it-just-a-bad-episode/answer/Paul-Durenberger

Let’s summarize the racism on display. The planet is inhabited by an all black race. This race is primitive from a 20th century context, let alone a 24th century. Right down to the ceremonial outfits. The men rule, but the women control the land. The black leader immediately is attracted to the first white woman he sees … so.. he kidnaps her. The black wife’s response? A fight to the death with the white woman.

All this is done while the black race knows a white race is suffering from a plague that they can cure, but they have no interest in helping those white people. Really?

How does the white woman feel about being kidnapped? She is flattered the black man finds her attractive- this thrown in to degrade women just in case the racism isn’t enough. Oh, and where have we seen a fight to the death between one person who wants the intended and one who doesn’t? Can you say TOS episode, “Amok Time.”? Oh, and when have we seen an episode that had a fight to the death end with a paralysis and resuscitation? Yup, “Amok Time”.

"more embarrassing than infuriating" Yes