I was just as surprised by the comments of MSNBC commentator Don Imus, when referring to the Rutgers University women’s basketball team, as anyone else.

I mean, it doesn’t get much worse than being referred to as a "nappy-headed ho" on national television.

The team, which includes eight Black women, had lost the day before in the NCAA women's championship game. Imus was speaking with producer Bernard McGuirk about the game when the exchange began on the show, which is broadcast to millions of people on more than 70 stations and the MSNBC television network.

And while I am joining the chorus of Blacks calling for the immediate firing of Imus from MSNBC, I am also turning a critical eye on us. On any given day of week, million of Blacks condone the use of the word ho being used to refer to the Black woman. Rappers commonly refer to the women in their songs and videos as hos and bitches. In fact, it’s celebrated in rap music.

The reality is that what Imus said was despicable, and downright deplorable and yes he should be fired for it.

But the door was opened a long time ago for the degrading of Black women, and it was opened by us.

When Black men began to make a living, and a good one at that, from calling us hos, bitches and other derogatory terms, sooner or later it was going to become OK for others to do it.

And I am not blaming us for Imus’ racism and stupidity, but I am pointing out the fact that many Blacks, including Black women, support rap artists who degrade them and in fact refer to themselves as “hos” and “bitches”, much in the way that a large number of Blacks refer to themselves as “nigga".

So, while we can and should be demanding that Imus be fired, we should also be turning to ourselves and reexamining why in 2007, people still think it’s OK to degrade and disrespect us.

I mean if 50 Cents can call you a ho and you bounce your hips to it, then what’s to say some white male television commentator can’t do the same?

What’s the difference? Exactly.

It’s kind of hard to demand respect from others, when you can’t even get it from your own.

And as would be expected, because it’s an attack on Black women, cooler heads must prevail and the network must review the Imus situation.

All the while, you and I both know that had Imus replaced the word nappy with frizzy, not only would he be out of a job and probably in protective custody, but the MSNBC building would probably be burnt to a crisp. And if he had replaced the word hos with dykes or “carpet munchers", you better believe there would be no reviewing the matter coming out of MSNBC, he’d have been fired the same day. Only when it comes to Black people does it require this careful thought process about what the appropriate punishment should be.

If we’re going to call for Imus to be fired, and we should, we should also turn attention to the rappers that also call Black women hos and turn a profit off it.

I don’t know what’s worse, being called a ho by some white man or being called a ho by a Black man.

Note: the following was added to this commentary on Friday, April 13, 2007

CBS has announced that they have fired Don "Nappy-Headed Hos" Imus for his controversial comments regarding the Rutgers women's basketball team last week that caused a national outcry. So what?

How about getting those "nigga lovin', ho slappin', bitch callin'" rappers dropped from their record labels? Can we get a national protest on that? Can I depend on Rev. Al and Rev. Jesse to spearhead that one in the same matter that they orchestrated Imus' early retirement? That's what I want to know as a Black woman.

Could Black America get behind a boycott of the radio stations and television networks that play the songs and videos of rappers that continuously degrade women with their lyrics by talking about how and what they want to do to my body?

Could Black America for once and for all stop "steppin'" to R. "I Like to Have Sex With Underage Females" Kelly's beats long enough to hear the lyrics of his billboard chart topping song that basically says, among other things, that he's a flirt, he's a pimp, your woman is a ho, all women are hos, he's rich and cute and he's going to have sex with anyone woman he wants?

I didn't see anyone camped outside Geffen Records for a protest against Snoop "I Beat my Case Again" Doggy Dogg's record label.

I mean at the heart of this debate, young Blacks don't know and could care less about a Don Imus. But they do know who all of these rappers are? While they can't seem to master the English language they can somehow recite all of the lyrics to some of the most despicable chart topping songs out there. Now why is that?

Could it be that we spend way too much time focused on people who aren't in the least bit an influence on our young children and not enough time educating them about the effects of using terms like ho and bitch to describe women?

Imus is a nobody to me. He wasn't even in my realm of consciousness until all of this madness kicked off. But everyday I step outside of my house, it never fails that a car will drive by bumping the lyrics of some rapper calling women bitches and hos. The irony of the situation is that oftentimes the driver is singing along with her kids in the backseat.

Please.

Going after the Imus' of the world is an easy thing to do, but going after the 50 Cents, Snoop Doggs, and other rappers is the real challenge. And quite frankly, I don't think Black America wants to take that battle on. We love them too much. We can't even stop referring to each other as "nigga's" so what is there to indicate that we'd be willing to stop supporting these rappers who demean women.

And the sad thing is, while we're busy making the executives at these labels millionaires ten times over, we're the ones that are struggling with children who don't respect us or themselves, thus ensuring that there's another generate In on of mis-educated and ignorant Blacks to continue supporting these artists. In other words, the cycle continues.

Just because we were brought over here as slaves doesn't mean that we have to keep the slave mentality.

Imus losing his job isn't going to do anything to change the deep rooted culture of self-disrespect in the Black community that is assisted by the legions of rap artists who promote the use of the word ho and bitch as an acceptable reference to the female sex.

In order for that to change, Black folks would have to take a long hard look in the mirror at themselves and that's something that we've been unwilling to do.

I swear, sometimes we're our own worst enemy. The Imus controversy will roll over and when it's all said and done, he'll still have more money than most of us will ever see in our lifetimes and we'll still be "in the hood" talking about "G's up and hos down" and how we "can't stop won't stop" calling each other bitches, hos, and nigga's.

So who's the real winner, Imus or us?

BC Columnist Jasmyne Cannick, 29, is a social commentator, nationally syndicated journalist and activist who was chosen as one of ESSENCE Magazine's 25 Women Shaping the World. She is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and writes a popular daily blog at jasmynecannick.com and myspace.com/jasmynecannick. She resides in Los Angeles. Click here to contact Ms. Cannick.