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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Bladen County, North Carolina

According to the 2000 Census, Bladen County, North Carolina has a population of 32,278 people. Of those, 18,469 (57%) are White, 12,235 (38%) are Black, and 1,198 (4%) are Latino[1]. However, 169 (or 1% of the 32,278 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 Bladen County a population of 32,109 with a demographic that is 57% White, 38% Black, and 4% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000
Incarcerated
population
Actual
population
Total 32,278 169 32,109
White 18,469 39 18,430
Black 12,235 115 12,120
Latino 1,198 12 1,186


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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