"There has been progress."

Don't say that to old white folks--and many blacks--from African countries.  Their eyes will mist over when they talk about the time and places they knew before independence... Rhodesia (now Zambia and Zimbabwe), Nyasaland (now Malawi), Ubangi-Shari (now Central African Republic), French Guinea (now Guinea), Belgian Congo (now Republic of Congo), Uganda, and even South Africa (they might have disagreed with Apartheid and cheered Mandela, but shake their heads at what's happened more recently...)