I think that you are being a "glass half full" person--not that there's anything wrong with that!
Yes, we have a black president now, but don't forget the vicious, thinly veiled racist attacks, the idiotic "birthers," and others of their ilk. I guess I'm being a "glass half empty" person, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if things even get worse--that race becomes even more of an issue, even if it isn't openly an issue--before they get better as the U.S. becomes more and more a minority majority nation. I would love to be proved wrong, but I won't be surprised if I'm right.
I don't forget the vicious, thinly veiled racist attacks, etc. I'm not saying racism (or homophobia, or sexism) has been banished from our nation. Far from it!
But in 1963 those racist attacks would have been a lot more vicious and not at all veiled. In 1963, people who tried to help black citizens
vote, let alone run for office, were not just called ugly names, but could have been murdered (the murders in Meridian, Miss., happened in 1964), and when when they went to trial juries could let them go (of the 21 men initially charged by the FBI in Mississippi, seven were found guilty, none served more than six years).
Maybe racism will never go away. But if it's no longer openly an issue, it's a lot less of a problem than when it was when we were kids.