In the heat of the night was a very controversial film, but not for the reason imagined. It depicted the US South and the racism endemic in the South in a way that really pissed off a lot of people in the South.

But that movie is not a good comparison, because it wasn't ironic. We definitely have no shortage of people who it could be argued are kind of stupid in this country (personally, I don't see how any intelligent person could possibly be racist). But it's not so much stupidity as a culture in which irony is not so much emphasized (and is frequently not understood) that causes the problem I described.

Keep in mind that Randy Newman got a hell of a lot of flak here in the US for his song Short People because a lot of people took that song seriously, and thought he really meant what he was saying in the song about short people.