I read somewhere that the reports of Ty Cobb being racist were greatly exaggerated. Not that he wasn’t like many of his time, or that he wasn’t an aggressive player...but that he wasn’t as nasty as they say.
Sorry I don’t recall where I heard that, but it wasn’t too long ago.
The book ‘Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty’ revealed Cobb to be actually quite gracious and tolerant, and not at all a racist. He did have a mean temper, and was a serious player, and that led to mistaken overall impressions.