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The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

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Dane County addressing racial disparities after new report

After the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families released a report earlier this year, members of the Dane County community have stepped up their efforts to address the long-time issue of racial disparity.

Dane County, compared to the rest of the nation, has drastically greater disparities between whites and blacks according to the report. These disparities include economic well-being, child welfare, criminal justice, education and health. Since the release of the report, the county has seen an increase in community conversations regarding to solutions for the issue, the council’s project director Erica Nelson said.

“I think that the report in some ways posts this very dramatic and startling indication of where we’re at and I think that’s something we can build on,” Nelson said. “While things are very concerning and upsetting, I think we have the potential and opportunity going forward to really address these disparities and make improvements.”

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According to the report, in 2011, the unemployment rate for blacks in Dane County was 25.2 percent as opposed to 4.8 percent for whites. The report shows in the same year, the national African American rate was only a little more than twice that of whites.

The poverty rate shows a similar pattern, the report said. In 2011, more than 74 percent of Dane County’s black children were poor compared to 5.5 percent of white children, according to information gathered from the American Community Survey. That amounts to a 13 to 1 poverty gap between black and white children in Dane County.

Education disparities in Dane County are equally high according to the report. In 2011, third graders in Dane County were 4.5 times more likely not to meet reading proficiency standards than white third graders, the report says. Likewise, African American students in the Madison Public School District had about a 50 percent on-time high school graduation rate, as opposed to 85 percent of white students, according to the report.

David Canon, University of Wisconsin political science professor, said he links the issues of education disparities back to the root cause of poverty and unemployment among blacks in Dane County.

“If you look more generally at the gaps in school performance its not surprising because there’s a lot of evidence that shows that students who live in poverty don’t do as well in school,” Canon said. “And so, that’s a root cause that we need to address in order to start addressing the education gap.”

Nelson said the initial idea to do the report came from all the discussions happening about the Madison achievement gap and the conversations about the disparities in the criminal justice system. She said from her work as an assigned public defender, she had an interest in learning more in depth about these issues.

Nelson said these issues of racial disparities between blacks and whites not only have a negative impact on the black population, but on the community as a whole.

“We need everybody of all colors, of all ethnicities and races to be participating, and to be contributing their skills and their talents to our communities,” Nelson said. “If people are disproportionately burdened with disadvantages, we won’t be able to capitalize as a community both economically or culturally upon all the benefits that diversity has to offer.”

Read the full Race to Equity report here.

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