Not the most delicate way of putting it but I do understand what he’s saying and its not so much that he’s beating up on blacks as expressing pity for them.
That was my take too. Slavery is still slavery, whether it's to the plantation owner or the government. It's an illusion that they are free.
You are right. It is quite clear that he was saying the War on Poverty has built a life for Blacks that is worse than slavery. The question he is asking is rhetorical.
To deny what has happened to blacks is to deny reality.