It's been an interesting week, for sure.

We had the passing of Michael Jackson, my favorite musician of all time, and someone who was able to break down the barriers of race and potentially bring people closer together around the world.

But the week began with a poll conducted by CNN which indicated that blacks in America (they're running that theme again this month) overall don't think much has changed for them since President Obama was elected president. As a matter of fact, some of them think things have gotten a little bit worse.

It's an interesting thing to look at, this thing on race, and as you know, I even wrote about what is a racist myself a little over two weeks ago (and actually got a few responses; surprised there). There are strange dynamics afoot that many people who aren't minorities just don't fully get, which is why, when surveys end up with results like this, there are a number of highly confused individuals.

First, no one is saying it's President Obama's fault that things got worse. What's happened is that non-black people say to them all the time "What do you mean racism still exists? We elected a black president after all." I've heard that one myself. How the heck did electing one person change the course of history in America? Jackie Robinson also broke the color barrier in baseball, but that didn't immediately turn things around. Did everyone forget the uprising when the NY Times cartoonist drew a cartoon equating President Obama with a shot monkey?

Here's some reality for folks to think about, and it's not just about black people as minorities. One, racism didn't change for anyone once President Obama was elected president. Two, not all Hispanics or Latinos believe in the same thing; for that matter, the fastest growing "minority" group in America isn't a monolith; it's its own melting pot of diversity, people from different countries, so they don't quite have their own voting block as the media would like you to believe. Three, Asians aren't smarter than the rest of the world just because many of them get high test scores. Four, blacks aren't dumber than the rest of the world because they often get lower test scores.

From the Hal Turners to the Rush Limbaughs to the Pat Buchanan's to the Newt Gingrich's to the,... no, I'd best stop there. Racism is alive and well in America, President Obama, heck, me, notwithstanding. You can't judge the whole on one person, no matter which direction it goes.

And thus, so goes the world.