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There's a difference between not knowing & choosing not to know.
Now, none if this is to imply that the Rohirrim were the M-e equivalent of the Nazi Party. They were a basically decent, honourable people, but nonetheless they were far from perfect in their attitudes to the other inhabitants of their land. I think Tolkien wanted to the reader to understand that they are not a 'modern' people, & that their outlook & attitude as regards other races was very much as Nogrod implies.
No race is entirely perfect in Tolkien's world - the Elves had their 'embalming' tendencies, the Gondorians were backward looking & obsessed with their own sense of superiority, the Hobbits were parochial in the extreme, the Dwarves extremely materialistic & the Rohirrim's attitude to other races is not all it should be (to put it mildly).
Yet, by the end of LotR the Elves have accepted that their time in M-e is over & have made the decision to let go, the Gondorians under Aragorn & Faramir have begun to look to the future & realise that other cultures are not necessarily 'less' than they are, the Hobbits have begun to open up to a wider world (for all that they have to be protected by Argorn's ruling), the Dwarves (as typified by Gimli) are beginning to realise that there are greater treasures than gold & jewels, & the Rohirrim have realised that those they thought of as 'sub human' are actually just like they themselves. It is actually a very hopeful way to end the tale.
Yet it is hopeful because we see these changes - that those races are growing & leaving behind their faults. To deny those faults ever existed actually removes that sense of hope in the ages that will follow...
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