Once again, the issue of race has been re-ignited.

And, once again, women, and certainly black women, are defending their right to "be".

When radio shock jock Don Imus referred to members of the Rutgers Women's Basketball team as "nappy-headed hos", I was disgusted but not surprised.

The first time I was ever called the N-word, it was by a guy in the gym that was angry because I was using a piece of equipment that he wanted to get on. The last time, was 4 years ago.

Both times, (and the 2-3 times in between) I wondered what point they were trying to get across.

The answer was, by virtue of being born with this color, they thought of me as inferior.

As an African-American woman, I have experienced the pains of racism and sexism. They are with me everyday as I make my way through a society that constantly tells women, they are not as worthy as a man, and as a black woman who has been told that her brown skin, her hair, her nose, are not as beautiful and definitely less desirable than her white counterparts.

Don Imus' comments remind me of the time when a news director told me that the audience would never connect with "a black" in a role of authority on a television show.

Finally, after three weeks I took a seat inside the taping of “American Idol.” I would go off on a rant about how my press ticket got taken away this season (maybe I just gave away too much good dish last year) but considering the woman sitting next to me told me she was on a waiting list for a year, after applying for tickets online, I figure I shouldn't complain.

It was actually thanks to my parents that I even got in. My last minute begging this morning paid off and (thanks to my fabulous boyfriend!) I was finally able to snag two tickets for my parents who had never been to “Idol.” I however would have to sit in the greenroom backstage.

Fortunately, after we arrived I went inside the studio to check on the parental units and was able to get a seat from production.

I was expecting nothing much had changed from last year but was shocked to find a brand new audience-entertainer guy named Bill. Cutie Corie, who had been there for several seasons, apparently got kicked to the curb because he is now over entertaining audiences at “Dancing With The Stars.” Bill's good. Really good. He brings a new energetic vibe to the crowd. At one point he scolded Jordin Sparks’ mom for her lack of enthusiasm and had Sanjaya's dad give her a lesson in excited energy. She then let out a nice Hollywood style movie scream for the crowd.

Sanjaya's dad -- now that is a proud father! He high-fived everyone around when his son slid through yet again. Watching Sanjaya get the good news I saw a little bit of devilishness in those eyes. My guess is he knows America will be talking about him yet again and he loves every second of it.

It was week two of the two reality powerhouses sharing the same space on the CBS lot. It was my first time backstage and although I tried to hang around the "Idol" area, I started feeling like a stalker and thus gave up on looking for the contestants.

The fans were out in full force though for at least an hour waiting for the Idols to exit to grab autographs. By the time I left at 7:30, the place was a dead zone.

Alas, I was backstage to talk to the eliminated dancer at "Dancing With The Stars." That fate fell on former Miss USA Shandi Finnessey. Poor girl never really even had a chance considering her name value was low and her partner, Brian Fortuna, had never been on the show before.

I myself had high hopes for her because when I met Shandi at rehearsal last month I thought she was a standout, just as Stacy Keibler had been. Unfortunately, she just didn't have the same skill level when it came to dancing and she never stood out.

Shandi says she was sad to go but no tears were shed. She really had a feeling she was staying tonight though, she told me. She was most upset that the viewers never really got to know her other interests including her charity work. Oh, and she'll miss those skimpy costumes and joked she might wear it out to the grocery store one day.

She'll be going back to her job hosting shows for the Game Show Network but if I had to venture a guess, one of the entertainment shows will snatch her up as a correspondent covering the rest of the season.

Now let's talk "Idol." I'm going to bust out my inner Joan and Melissa tonight.

Kudos to Melinda Doolittle for the razor bob haircut. Much better than last week. The stylists did her wrong though with that too small for her, unflattering, sleeveless dress. Yet again, the girl killed her performance -- but seriously, enough with the "Golly Gee" act.

It's week three of “Dancing with the Stars” and I finally made it backstage on Monday night. Other commitments have kept me away but it was nice to return to my favorite dance floor. I got a nice big fat hug backstage from Karina Smirnoff as she and I chatted about how she has changed this season. The tough competitor we saw with Mario Lopez last season has given way to a softer, happier girl. With the fun-loving country boy as her partner it's hard not to have fun but Karina says her goal this season was to just have a good time and enjoy every single second of the experience.

The last time I saw Billy Ray was about five weeks ago and I was shocked to see he was not the same guy. I joked he was half the man I met when I visited him on the set of “Hannah Montana.” He joked that he didn't realize what a "fat dumpling" he was until he saw a photo of himself in People magazine from that same day. It was used for a before and after photo of his dancing transformation. I hope you vote for him because the guy's a true sweetheart and is thankful for his fans.

The competitive spirit is still definitely with Cheryl Burke. She was visibly bothered backstage by the 8's rather than 9's the judges gave them for Ian's misstep. The folks on the East Coast never saw the mistake though as the camera was off on a wall by accident. The mistake was fixed for the later feeds. Should Ian ever find himself in need of a job the guys down at Hollywood Men (sorry gals -- those were not actually Chippendales) will always have a gig for him. When asked if this was her first visit to a male revue I got a chuckle and a "no comment" from Cheryl.