Outstanding article, and needed to be said.

The only caveat is that we have to be vigilant in that presentism is never used to whitewash truly evil deeds.  For example, MacDonald’s sentiments on both the Chinese and residential schools are abhorrent today but were fairly common in the late 1800s.  The Nazi attitude towards Jews, Slavs, homosexuals and the Roma was also fairly prevalent in the late 30s and early 40s.  But accepting MacDonald’s warts is completely different, and we need to guard against those who might honour the truly odious figures in history through the presentism argument.