Like in most conversations, nuance is required here. 80 years ago, most white Americans were at least mildly racist. There's some wiggle room to contextualize "a man of his time" when a person held unfortunate viewpoints but wasn't actively harming people.
Then there's the next class, which is actively harming people or using outsized influence to steer policy. That's where we get into Cap Anson and Kennesaw Mountain Landis territory, two people who I have huge ******* problems with, irrespective of the time period in which they lived.
Everyone is a product of their time and environment but some people are just flat-out wrong regardless of when they lived.