Inmates are more likely to be black in Wisconsin. | Courtesy of Unsplash
Inmates are more likely to be black in Wisconsin. | Courtesy of Unsplash
Rep. Kristina Shelton (D-WI) is speaking out against the inequality visible in the representation of inmates within Wisconsin’s prison system, in which one out of every 36 black Wisconsins is incarcerated, despite making up a small percentage of the state’s population.
Wisconsin currently represents the state with the highest racial disparity in prisons, as compared to every other state.
“One in 36 Black Wisconsinites are in prison. Example of how racism shows up in systems. Policies either contribute to the reality (systemic racism) or not (anti-racism). Or, maybe you just think black folk ‘just make bad decisions?’ That makes you racist. See how this works," Shelton tweeted.
Currently, black people make up 6% of the state’s population, but represent 42% of the Wisconsin prison population. Across the nation, black people are nearly five times as likely as white people to be imprisoned and black Wisconsins are 12 times as likely to be imprisoned as white residents, according to WUWM.
Hawaii, which has some of the lowest racial disparity in imprisonment, still is twice as likely to imprison a black person as they are a white individual, according to WPR.
The U.S. has the highest rate of imprisoned peoples out of any nation on Earth, with roughly 3% of the U.S. population being in prison, according to WZ.
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