Using more precise terms in language has nothing to do with being an utopia. Really, as a native Portuguese speaker it sounds really weird to ask about the race of a human being.
Compared to Latin America as a whole? Yup, pretty clearly so. They're on a path to becoming more racially progressive than much of the U.S.
In fairness the U.S. has been on a regressive trajectory for the last ~10 years, so anyone who isn't similarly regressive is "on a path to becoming more racially progressive than much of the U.S.", strictly speaking.
Just because problems are more visible does not mean they have regressed IMO.
When the racism is more visible because the racists feel more comfortable broadcasting their messages, and indeed when the media and academy effectively and institutionally endorse and promote those messages, that seems like textbook regression.
> They're on a path to becoming more racially progressive than much of the U.S.
Having spent time in Brazil and as a luso-American, that is ridiculous. Brazil has an even bigger problem with racist police violence and extra-judicial killings than the US does!
Both Brazil and the US are really large countries. I'm not sure if comparison is so simple.