Haven't read the thing since it first came out, but yeah, it was full of holes. It also implied that infertile poor women all worked in mines or some shit. Why is it always mines? But it's Caucasians because, well, things just weren't as consciously "inclusive" as they are now, and making a character "exotic" was done on purpose for different reasons than today (fetishes and the magic negro trope).

Just pointing out that it was in fact very much a product of its time, and it is pretty baffling why it hasn't been updated for a post-9/11 audience ...