It's taking us a long time to become the melting pot we say we are - and to embrace the principle of equality.

This month, we marked the 232nd anniversary of the birth of the country - and this week, the 60th anniversary of the racial integration of US armed forces. And yet...

And yet, you don't have to do much scratching to unearth deep prejudices. A new Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll suggests that for 8 percent of white US voters, race is "the most important factor" in their consideration of this year's presidential candidates. A month ago, the Journal reported this morning, that figure was 5 percent.

OK: 8 percent's relatively small. But you can bet that the figure is really higher than 8; few people are willing to be open about their racial prejudice.

If, despite that racism, Barack Obama is elected president, it'll certainly help move the country forward. But Obama continues to hold only a narrow lead over John McCain in nearly all of the polls. And the campaigns and the rumor machines haven't cranked up yet.

Could racism doom Obama's chances? I stay hopeful that the country is better that. But the Journal-NBC News poll makes me nervous.

And speaking of prejudice...

Dana Milbank's column in this morning's Washington Post is another reminder of how far we are from equality for gays and lesbians.

Congress is holding hearings on the military's 15-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Elaine Donnelly, president of an organization called the Center for Military Readiness, appalled both Republicans and Democrats with her harsh, anti-gay testimony.

"Inadvertently," wrote Milbank, "Donnelly achieved the opposite of her intended effect. Though there's no expectation that Congress will repeal ‘don't ask, don't tell' and allow gays to serve openly in the military, the display had the effect of increasing bipartisan sympathy for the cause."

I'd like to hope so. But as Milbank suggests, an attempt to repeal "don't ask" would face tough opposition. As with racism, homophobia continues to be deep in this country. And hidden. Connelly's statements were appalling, but she was expressing the views of far too many Americans.