Imagine Nancy Reagan protesting U.S. Navy bombing exercises on Vieques Island.

After being arrested for her peaceful protest, would she be asked to submit to a body-cavity search?

If former first lady Hillary Clinton protested and was arrested, would some low-level prison guard ask her to �bend over and spread her buttocks?�

Obviously, the answer is no, not if that guard wanted to keep her job.

Then why would authorities�Pres. Bush and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft�allow Mrs. Jacqueline Jackson, wife of Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, to languish in a Puerto Rican jail for refusing such a degrading search.

The answer is the Republican Party feels it�s getting its digs in on Rev. Jackson, who has been a thorn in their side on  many issues over the years. And because they simply don�t see a need to respect a Black female.

The arrest of Mrs. Jackson and the issues her actions have brought to light further illuminates the injustices and racism of the U.S. prison system.

Why wasn�t Mrs. Jackson simply given a court date and released? Did the racist system think that this highly respected Black woman was a threat to society or would flee and never return. That�s the reason for placing bail on a suspect.

To suggest that �everyone is required to submit to a body-cavity search� is not only a lie, it�s also discriminatory on the female population. Rep. Luis Gutierrez said he and others arrested with him several months ago were not subjected to a body-cavity search? Are men exempt?

Furthermore, Congressman John Conyers (D-Mich.) has pointed out to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft that in Roberts v. Rhode Island, the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that �an administrative strip search policy routinely applied [in federal prison admittance] � cannot be justified simply on the basis of administrative ease in attending to security considerations.�

Based on that ruling, the government�s treatment of Mrs. Jackson is unconstitutional, Rep. Conyers said in a press statement.

Why is Mrs. Jackson being held in solitary confinement? Is this what you would do to Mrs. Clinton under similar circumstances? Or is this treatment reserved for �uppity Negroes� who come meddling in master�s business?

Why deny Mrs. Jackson her glasses and reading material?

Furthermore, why has the United States used bombs with radioactive materials during their practice sessions on the island. Is it that Black and Latino life is not as valuable as white life? Is depleted uranium used on practice bombing sessions in Texas, Oklahoma or other mainland based areas?

Attacking Black male leadership in such a dehumanizing way is one thing. But the Black and Latino communities must not allow our Queen Mothers, our First Ladies to be treated with such disrespect without raising our voices to a level that shatters the atmosphere.

Black women have always led the way in our struggle for justice and human rights. They took the blows when Black men would have been lynched for raising their voices.

This incident is not just about Mrs. Jacqueline Jackson. Her arrest and persecution is symbolic of the arrest, degradation and persecution faced by every Black female who enters the criminal justice system.

Her arrest exposes to a higher degree the blatant disrespect of the U.S. government for the Blacks and Latinos of Puerto Rico.

But, her arrest also symbolizes the power of a Black and Latino coalition to bring sanity back to the laws that govern this land by seizing power through a united vote. That�s possible in the next 50 years.

If Blacks and Latinos formed a tighter bond to utilize our voting power coming out of Vieques, then Mrs. Jackson�s arrest will have started a revolution.