Is the traditional image of the "sock monkey" racist?

I have been amazed at the popular return of the sock monkey lately as I had long thought the toy had fallen out of fashion as a racist image. Did I miss something? I have not heard any outcry of the populace over the return of this toy (Target, WalMart, they all have them).

I do know that the current sock monkey image includes the traditional as well as a plethora of sock monkeys in a festival of new colors (purple, orange, etc.). Does this mitigate the offensive image?

Someone gave me a sock monkey last year and I really didn’t know what the appropriate reaction might be . . .