General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Bernie admits need to get schooled on African-American incarceration* [View all]Sophia4
(3,515 posts)The statistic per 100,000 is correct, but it does not tell the story.
There are nowhere near 100,000 African-
Americans in Vermont.
I have found various numbers for the number of African-Americans in Vermont.
Here is the number from the census bureau for 2017 --623,657 people in Vermont of which 1.3% or around 7,005 are African-American.
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/VT/AGE775216or
I find various numbers, but if the incarceration rate is 2,357 per 100,000, the actual number of people imprisoned is low. And some of them may be imprisoned because of an actually high crime rate. Just looking at numbers does not tell the whole story.
Also, this is primarily a state issue, not a federal issue that Bernie would prioritize.
It is still far too many African-Americans in prison. I agree about that. But there is no reason to exaggerate or to blame it on Bernie. There are a lot of people in Vermont who should be doing something about this problem which I agree may be very serious.