This is what Keyword Manager looks like to me, and it appears pretty readable.

'Ive clicked on the picture on the left, and keywords for that picture are highlighted. The top shows only the shortcut group of keywords, but they highlight like this all the way down.
However, if I don't click on any picture, then the keywords are indeed low contrast and hard to read,

because the keywords are grayed out, meaning they are not available, since no picture has been selected.
You can also select "Edit Keywords" at the bottom of the manager, and the list is more like the first example.
Is this different from what you see?