"Of Their Times"

Science fiction fans like to argue, or at least to gather and passionately discuss their opinions on science fiction and the creation thereof. One of the many arguments is that some of the important pioneers of the field were racist, sexist or otherwise problematic to modern eyes. The immediate counterargument ("Pavlovian" in the words of one writer) is that so-and-so was "a man of his times."

Well, jimhines has an interesting article the gist of which is not so fast. It's well worth reading in full. Two quick notes from the article:

1) Mister Rogers (of TV fame) was born in 1928. One of the co-founders of the modern KKK was born in 1924. The were both men of the same time.
2) Quote: Keep in mind that recognizing and talking about the problematic attitudes and writing of historical figures is not the same as OMG ERASE THEM FROM THE CANON AND BURN THEIR WORKS AND STRIKE THEIR NAMES FROM THE HISTORY OF THE GENRE!

My semi-original contribution to the debate is this: Donald Trump was born in 1946. Joe Biden was born in 1942. They are both "men of their times" but one would be hard-pressed to confuse the two.