Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
There's a difference between saying "It's bad that early 20th century American society was racist" and "It's bad that H.P. Lovecraft was racist". Of course he was: he was a product of that society. So yes, I do think that he can be "excused" for holding attitudes that were the norm in his society; it would have been surprising had he not done so.
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Indeed.
Humans are a tribal species.
We are hardwired to see others as either "kin" or "alien".
The amazing thing is that over millennia we have developed cultures that have extended our internal baseline of "kin" beyond family and clan and region to encompass vast stretches of humanity (though not all) and even non-human species.
Our ancestors were what their times and societies made them. As are we. One should be careful about judging the past by our current standards because cultural standards continue to evolve and in time we will be judged. And not necessarily kindly.
As somebody prominently said: "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
The past is dead and immutable. They lived by their standards as we live by ours. Expecting anything else is fruitless. Learn from it if it is in you and hope the future will be kind.