Help End Prison Gerrymandering Prison gerrymandering funnels political power away from urban communities to legislators who have prisons in their (often white, rural) districts. More than two decades ago, the Prison Policy Initiative put numbers on the problem and sparked the movement to end prison gerrymandering.

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—Peter Wagner, Executive Director
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Mississippi County, Arkansas

According to the 2000 Census, Mississippi County, Arkansas has a population of 51,979 people. Of those, 33,499 (64%) are White, 16,997 (33%) are Black, and 1,169 (2%) are Latino[1]. However, 437 (or 1% of the 51,979 people) are not residents by choice but are people in prison.

Even though prisoners cannot participate in the local community, the Census Bureau nevertheless counts them as residents of the county where they are incarcerated.

A more accurate description would not include the prisoners. This would give Mississippi County a population of 51,542 with a demographic that is 65% White, 33% Black, and 2% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000
Incarcerated
population
Actual
population
Total 51,979 437 51,542
White 33,499 254 33,245
Black 16,997 181 16,816
Latino 1,169 9 1,160


Notes:

[1]The numbers for Whites, Blacks and Latinos may not add up to the total number because we have not included racial groups other than Whites and Blacks and because the Census Bureau considers "Latino" to be an ethnicity, not a race. Most of the people reported as being Latino are also counted as being White or Black.



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