Ah a subject near and dear to my heart. First of all Allthumbs did a nice job on his Cliff notes on the blues
. I would suggest you check out my web site for an extensive set of links to other blues sites and blues musicians I personally like (plus photos). I would also suggest this
http://www.thebluehighway.com/ as a good starting place.
If you want to learn a whole lot more about the blues there is a great blues forum called Blindman Blues Forum at
http://blindman.forumhoster.com/index.php? 
BTW: The great Albert King said many times "Everyone gets the blues". People like Buddy Guy & B. B. King have made it clear that enjoying the blues and playing the blues isn't about what color your skin is but whether you have the feeling for the blues (empathy).