Yes, people were often super racist by modern standards, but there was also a less polarized societal climate and stuff like

It's funny, people always say this, but it just isn't true. Like somehow racism was okay for awhile, and everyone just agreed on that. I think about the following quotes

[…] They’re violent, they’re vicious, they’re ignorant, and they will cut us up. That’s their intent. To cut us up. [To Juror #7.] I’m warning you. This boy, this boy on trial here. We’ve got him. That’s one at least. I say get him before his kind gets us. I don’t give a goddamn about the law." -Juror #10

"It's very hard to keep personal prejudice out of a thing like this. And wherever you run into it, prejudice always obscures the truth." -Juror #8.

These are quotes from a 1954 teleplay. We didn't just suddenly decide one day "hey wait a minute, prejudice against someone based on skin colour... is stupid, and wrong!" It always was, and we always knew it, but we didn't stop it until an event moved us to.

Inclusion is of course better nowadays but I miss the innocence the past

I mean this in the least offensive way possible, but I am also a white male, and I think you'll find that the past isn't so innocent.