Don't blame Google for photos of First Lady Michelle Obama depicted as an ape floating around the Internet. Instead, let's look at those around the world who are confused, because Mrs. Obama is very publicly and systematically smashing long-held stereotypes about Black women.

The photo began showing up on Google as the top search result for "Michelle Obama" a few weeks ago. The altered photo shows a smiling Mrs. Obama altered to look like that of an ape. Google refused to remove the picture, instead choosing to post an explanation and apology for the image:

Sometimes Google search results from the Internet can include disturbing content, even from innocuous queries. We assure you that the views expressed by such sites are not in any way endorsed by Google. Search engines are a reflection of the content and information that is available on the Internet. A site's ranking in Google's search results relies heavily on computer algorithms using thousands of factors to calculate a page's relevance to a given query.....Accordingly, we do not remove a page from our search results simply because its content is unpopular or because we receive complaints concerning it......We apologize if you've had an upsetting experience using Google. We hope you understand our position regarding offensive results.

The blog that hosted the picture eventually removed the photos and posted a poorly written apology in English that seemed to be the translation of a Chinese statement:

I am very sorry for this article, and that this is the program automatically issued a document from the article. Do not the subject of race and politics make the discussion too radical and sincere hope that the world is very peaceful.

I think Google is right on this. There are so many images on the Internet that people find offensive that it would be difficult to police them all. The ape photos are just a backlash, just as photos depicting President Obama as Osama bin Laden or Hitler is the reaction to an African American holding one of the most powerful offices in the world for the first time.Mrs. Obama's credentials are rock solid. She grew up on Chicago's South Side and has degrees from both Princeton University and Harvard Law School. She has experience in the private and public sectors, working for a Chicago law firm, the University of Chicago Medical Center and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.

She's a mother of two whose fashion choices and buff arms have wowed the world. (There was even criticism that she showed her guns too much).She has the savvy to focus on typical First Lady issues, such as military families and healthy eating, but also find a way to dip her toe in to the health care debate.

She probably has the President's ear like none of his other advisers and is a worthy intellectual partner in helping him make difficult decisions. At the same time, she has talked about the difficulties of balancing her own ambitions with the priorities of being a mother and a wife. She totally gets the dilemmas and challenges facing the modern woman, because she's living them out right before our eyes and handling them pretty gracefully.

Her reality runs contrary to the unfortunate and typical depictions of black women in this country. There is the oversexed video vixen; the welfare queen; the angry, head-bobbing and overly confrontational sister; and the invisible, victimized woman. Michelle Obama is none of these and neither are millions of other black women.

Silly images of the First Lady can't change the truth.