My opinion is that his comments are so offensive to so many people because he trivializes verifiable suffering for so many Americans. He can base his thinking that the Jim Crow era, and by extension slavery, wasn't so bad because he doesn't know any black people who told him they suffered. That doesn't make him an advocate for Christianity, it makes him a poster boy for ignorance.
I have no comment on his statements regarding homosexuality. There are far too many better writers than me who have done an excellent job tearing these statements to shreds.