It’s Lewis Carroll (he was a Mathematician) reasoning. Ridiculous inputs lead to ridiculous conclusions. It was always insane that Roy Moore could be vilified for dating younger adult women, comedian Al Franken could be forced out of office for humor, a businessman President could be in danger for business deals before he was President, that folks could go back in time and declare that things that weren’t racist are now racist. Where else could this go except the Theater of the Absurd that we now have in Virginia?
In the context of their time. That doesn’t mean the blackface bit wasn’t offensive. But one can’t logically say, because I deem it offensive now means it was always so. Society has changed. Not necessarily for the better, but change is a constant.