I don't think that the statement seeks to portray this as "better" or "worse". It's reflecting on the fact that this situation affects the same groups of peopl

I don't think that the statement seeks to portray this as "better" or "worse". It's reflecting on the fact that this situation affects the same groups of people that were negatively affected when slavery was a more mainstream practice in the US. It's as if some rules have changed on paper, but in practice the same "values" and behaviours persist.