An 18-year-old high schools student from Tennessee was suspended more than 40 times for wearing a T-shirt and belt buckle and other items of clothing bearing the Confederate flag. He attends Anderson High School (with only one black student), which has banned the wearing or displaying of the flag not because they believe it's racist, but because it stirs up tension.

So Bill Clinton declared that he's not a racist this week. He said this in response to criticism over comments he made during the Democratic Primary, particularly after his wife, Hillary, lost to Barack Obama in South Carolina and he accused voters there of voting for Obama simply because he was black.

A 9-year-old girl was made a ward of the state in New Zealand during a custody battle. The reason? The child's name was considered abusive. Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii. Yes, that was the name her parents put on her birth certificate.

The child was so embarrassed by her name that she lied about it to friends. But there was a greater problem with what I guess was an attempt at humor on the part of her parents at their child's expense.

Who was watching "Black in America" on CNN? I ask the question because it was raging inside of me as I listened to pundits and experts, educators and pastors, business professionals and actors, all attempting to make sense and give shape to what it means to be black in America.