It’s not an excuse, it’s an attempt to establish context.
Do you think that Roosevelt should be taken off the dime because of Japanese Internment camps?
Should Lincoln come off the 5 for his suspension of habeus corpus?
I’d love to see Roosevelt come off the dime. People have always known what evil is, regardless of the times. Unfortunately, when someone else’s rights are being gored, it’s too easy to turn your back.