I think it's a reference to the animation rules of The Simpsons, which weren't in place for Season 1. One of the rules is "no dot eyes"
Yeah, I don't think this is about the character being a person of color. That design sticks out quite a bit from other Simpsons background characters.
A lot of production notes from animation studios in the 90s are filled with diversity requirements. I remember reading a Batman the Animated Series book that had an example. Warner Brothers Animation insisted that a gang of thugs should have more white people in it… or vise versa, I can’t remember. Wouldn’t surprise me if it’s a similar situation here. But that’s the point of political correctness, right? That we can, all of us, be murderous criminals or even old people.
In fact, all of us should be elderly murderous criminals! That is verily the highest form of existence!
