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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Greer County, Oklahoma

According to the 2000 Census, Greer County, Oklahoma has a population of 6,061 people. Of those, 4,937 (81%) are White, 532 (9%) are Black, and 451 (7%) are Latino[1]. However, 913 (or 15% of the 6,061 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 Greer County a population of 5,148 with a demographic that is 88% White, 4% Black, and 7% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 6,061 913 5,148
White 4,937 414 4,523
Black 532 331 201
Latino 451 69 382


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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