You're probably right. Though there are several Marvel What If...? issues that feature an unnamed but obvious version of the Black Panthers as being heroes, which is both unsurprising considering the general political leaning of the comics field in the last thirty-forty years, but also sort of bemusing, considering what Christopher Priest had to say about his time there.
You know, though, I really like these two panels. They're actually fairly defining for T'Challa, in a way that Hudlin talks about occasionally but doesn't follow through on a single bit. He says he's a law unto himself, but does so in a way that makes it clear he's saying both "I will not be pigeonholed by others" as well as "It's not my place to comment." And why shouldn't he change his name if he wants to? He's the King of Wakanda. He'll call himself what he likes.
This is the way to write a separatist nation who's not just a bunch of smug dicks. "It is neither my place nor responsibility to comment on your domestic matters" rather than "Why must you suck so much, whitey?"