People are in many senses products of their time. It is a recent phenomenon that people are so acutely aware of discrimination (of all kinds) and the harm it do

People are in many senses products of their time. It is a recent phenomenon that people are so acutely aware of discrimination (of all kinds) and the harm it does to society. If someone was born in a time or place where that kind of awareness wasn't widely established, I'm willing to cut them a lot more slack. See also HP Lovecraft for another famous author whose writings have awkward racist and misogynistic undertones when read from today's perspective.