In my meanderings through old books, magazines and newspapers, in search of material for the new program, I occasionally (no, actually quite often) encounter what would, by today's standards, be offensive material. I mean, stuff that is racist, sexist or generally just off. 

It can pull you up quite short even when you are half expecting it. I won't be repeating anything I have found here, nor laying blame for its existence. I am not even prepared to condemn the authors. They wrote in a different era, when attitudes were very different and most people would not have blinked to hear them said or written. That is the context. Full stop.

I know that there is a small, tediously vocal group who want to stamp on the grave of these long-dead folk. They appear to have no understanding of history or social context, but they do have big mouths and like shouting.

Leave people from the past alone please. Try to get past your first thought to a greater understanding (after all, you would probably have held the same views yourself if you were born then), stop typing, talking, shouting, just for a while. Enough.