BS. Plain and simple. Thoughts and values change. Read just about any holy book, at least from the Abrahamic traditions that I'm familiar with, and you'll see judgments and instructions for punishments for things that we see today as being absurd. Right and wrong do change.
That being said, I'm not a fan of Pike's opinions on race. Then again, I don't read his writings to get insights on race relations, just as I wouldn't read a Stephen Hawking book for recipe ideas. Was Pike a racist? Probably. If you want to spend your time being angry at a dead man, have at it. I'd rather make lemonade from the lemons by picking out the good things. Pike had some great insight into Masonic subjects. I don't agree with all of them and in fact I've yet to find a Masonic author that I agree with 100%, but I find that there is wisdom in most texts. I, for one, refuse to throw the baby out with the bath water and I'll continue to read his books for the positive aspects while ignoring the negative. Going back to the example given earlier for Hitler, he was a designer (I hesitate to say architect since his plans were full of structural problems) who came up with some brilliant plans. His social services have been the blueprint for many used across the developed world to this day, and he brought Germany from starvation and the brink of collapse to one of the most prosperous in the world in the matter of a few years. But good attributes do not make him a good man. He was sick and evil, no question, but purposely forgetting the insight he brought forward, just as with Albert Pike, would be cutting off your nose to spite your face.
I will agree that many Masons look up to Pike as some sort of Masonic fatherly figure, and in my opinion, that is a mistake. He was a writer with some great insights, he ought to be celebrated for that. He was also (at least in our eyes of today) a racist, and he ought to be denounced for that. But no one is saying that you can't do both.