PROGRESS IN RACE RELATION IN THE U.S.

In spite of many examples to the contrary, (e.g. Dylan Roof, the white nationalist movement)  the nation, including the South, has made progress improving race relations and rejecting white supremacy. How many would have thought we would have a black president in 2008?
"For now, history will not be made in Washington with America's first female president. But, here in Texas, we have quietly made history this month swearing in the state's first African American female sheriff.
Jefferson County Sheriff Zena Stephens took her oath in front of a packed audience in Beaumont, where she promised to get back to the basics of law enforcement with greater transparency and community engagement. Stephens spoke of being humbled by all the support, describing her November win as a team effort. "Our community made history," she said."

However, it was not always smooth.
"In February, Stephens' campaign headquarters were sprayed with gunfire by a man shouting racial slurs. Fortunately, none of the volunteers inside were hit or injured. Stephens never missed a beat, demonstrating why good cops deserve respect and more police departments could use womanpower.   
In 2015, only 11 percent of licensed police officers in Texas were women. Of the 254 counties in Texas, more than 50 do not employ any female deputies. Stephens is now one of only two black women in America to hold the job of sheriff. Yet, she does not concern herself much with the record books or her admission into a very impressive brotherhood of peace officers. (That includes Walter Moses Burton, who, in 1869, was elected the first black sheriff in Texas by the voters of Fort Bend County.)"
http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/01/13/first-african-american-female-sheriff-woman-enough-fill-big-boots