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 DirectorDonate

Bland County, Virginia

According to the 2000 Census, Bland County, Virginia has a population of 6,871 people. Of those, 6,515 (95%) are White, 288 (4%) are Black, and 32 (0%) are Latino[1]. However, 590 (or 9% of the 6,871 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 Bland County a population of 6,281 with a demographic that is 98% White, 1% Black, and 1% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 6,871 590 6,281
White 6,515 371 6,144
Black 288 216 72
Latino 32 0 32


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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