To be entirely fair, the cat was actually named by his father, and Lovecraft JR felt it would be cruel to rename an old age cat. However he was still really fuckin racist, so don't go nuts with the forgiveness
He's a product of his time. Everybody was really fuckin racist, from the king to the chimney sweep. Look at Kant. Look at Kipling! and all that 'noble savage' stuff. It's part of our history. Surprise! Your great grandparents were really fuckin racist, too.
HP Lovecraft has been cited as being more racist and agoraphobic than even what was normal at the time. Back then all white people were a little racist, maybe everyone was, but dear old HP was bad even for the time. Which is why all of his stories are about unknown horrors. The man was scared of everything, especially different people.
EDIT: Oh no.
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Nigger.