I'd say even "former dopehead" would depend on the regularity of use and the period. To use it in a current sense seems irresponsible. Like saying that if you've been divorced but are remarried I should refer to you as the divorced guy.
And our understanding and practice on the point frequently change. Just so, you could call the convert a heathen because he was one, but it's not a real reflection of his moral inclination after the fact.
Or conflate it with the present if it isn't present. It's the sort of thing that can come up fairly in a long view discussion of a man's arc.
I can't agree. I'd say it's morally superior to not be a racist. But if George Wallace repents his ignorance and shuns it then he's no different than the fellow who was lucky enough to come up in a home where he was given better instruction.
I think he did that with the Mexican comment. I've told you why. It's sly, like calling someone Liberace when you mean to imply something else, but it's still as low, only a bit less brave.
In the wake of that sort of rhetoric there was an alarming increase in hate related violence and intimidation. The Southern Poverty Law Center, in November or 2016 noted
In the ten days following the election, there were almost 900 reports of harassment and intimidation from across the nation...Of the 867 hate incidents collected by the SPLC, 23 were anti-Trump. SPL (link)
32% of the incidents were anti-immigrant, 23% anti-black, 6% anti-Muslim, 12% anti-Semetic, 5% anti-women...
