Wisconsin leads the Nation in locking up African American men

[aaaaaa5a]

A study released a few days ago by researchers at UW-Milwaukee shows that Wisconsin, long known to be among the worst in racial disparities in the criminal justice system, is in fact the worst — by a long shot.


Using 2010 census data, the study shows that 12.8 percent of the state's African-American men are now behind bars in state prison or local jails, twice the national average of 6.7 percent.


Wisconsin's rate far exceeds the 9.7-percent incarceration rate for African-American men in Oklahoma, which come in at No. 2 on the list. (It's interesting to note that at 2.1 percent, Oklahoma also has the highest rate of incarcerating white men.)


According to the report, one in eight black men in Wisconsin is now behind bars — a staggering statistic, especially given that the rate for white men is 1.24 percent, or 1 in 81 men — almost identical to the national average.


The report shows that Wisconsin also leads the nation in the rate of locking up Native American men, 7.6 percent, just ahead of South Dakota, where 7.3 percent of Native American men are behind bars.


"The volume of black males of prime working age imprisoned has increased to such an extent that over half of all African-American men from Milwaukee County in their 30s and half of men in their early 40s have been or currently are in adult DOC correctional institutions," the report says.



Full story here:
http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/steven_elbow/report-shows-that-wisconsin-leads-nation-in-locking-up-african/article_803fd401-a78f-5608-8477-d58507df9295.html#ixzz2RhWrxp11


Full reporte here:
http://www4.uwm.edu/eti/2013/BlackImprisonment.pdf



Just for scale and proof that racial issues are sometimes much deeper than a simple red state/blue state dichotomy, in Alabama the incarceration rate for black men is 5.4 percent; in Mississippi it's 5.2 percent.

[Fumesucker]

1. But hey, it's not a police state n/t

[raccoon]

2. Hey, it's not a Southern state that leads the nation in this. nt

[aaaaaa5a]

5. No its definitely not.

Sometimes some people here (myself included) are way to quick to point the finger at the south when it comes to these types of issues. But a look at this study or a quick view of the shocking segregation in Michigan (based on another thread on this board) and you can see race is still a national problem. Not just a southern one.

[Turbineguy]

3. Maybe we need to have a society

that permits more people to participate and rewards people for participating.

[Scuba]

4. Sadly, I know people here who are proud of this.

Racism is alive and well in Wisconsin.

[aaaaaa5a]

6. I think its a class, economic AND a racial problem.

And its more than WI that has this issue.