That is such a common and bullshit dodge.

Yeah, I remember the good old days when child abuse, sexism, racism, homophobia, etc. were accepted parts of society. Except of course they weren't.

They were accepted by the white, male heterosexuals in charge.

Kids were fucked up. Black people, women, and gay people (many others but those I listed specifically) fucking hated the status quo, but they had no power.

US slave owners went to great lengths to whitewash (see what I did there!) their horrible crimes against their fellow man. They fucking knew right then how bad slavery was, but it was "accepted." The other examples I listed are just on the shitty spectrum of "accepted."