I grew up in rural Saskatchewan, Canada, today I can't even quote some of the common terms I grew up with as they would be very offensive to certain people.
They were just as offensive then, as they are today, but my generation deemed them to be unacceptable, but it did not make them go away.
We need history so we can learn from it, to look back and see that it wasn't right, but to accept it as a failure we overcame.