It is not about “looking back” it is about “JUDGING” people in history from a modern lens, which is judging them not within the context of their own times, but ours. Our context did not exist then and being judgemental from our contest tends to try to rewrite the history that already was, to make it conform to today’s context. Then it is no lonher history, but fictional history conforming to today’s context.
The task of a historian is to research and discover references in the past and compile them into a current document.
The historian immediately discovers holes aand discreepancies in the various references and records. To stitch it together, some personal thoght must be brought to bear. It is certainly possible to dispassionately bserve and evaaluate with out making judgements.
The only way to discover and write about the past is to lookbackward.
A mirror caan be useful. To think otherwise is just foolish.
Future hstory is fiction