Hi, StewartBrian.

Yes, Ms. Wente quoted facts. Then, many would argue, she arrives at an erroneous conclusion ("good news.")  Happens all the time. I suspect she did so to grab readers. She's excellent at doing that. 

Now having said, that, some African American living in the southern states back in the 1900s would certainly agree we're living in a "good news" era. But, the comparisons are somewhat meaningless, when Billie Holiday sang "Strange Fruit" which, eventually, became a million-seller record... 

"Southern trees bear strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees"