Blacks are 5.5 times more likely than whites to be unemployed in Dane County, Wisconsin

Three-quarters of the county’s African-American children live in poverty, compared to 5% of white children. Half of all black high school students don’t graduate on time, compared to 16% of white children. African-American children are 15 times more likely than their white counterparts to land in foster care. And black juveniles are six times more likely to be arrested than white juveniles. Those are some of the findings released in a report, “Race to Equity,” by the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families. The report compared 40 indicators of well-being for Dane County residents, mostly between 2007 and 2011. In nearly every category, the study found, blacks, who make up 6.5% of the county’s population, fare much worse than whites. Disparities are common across the United States, the report said, but the gap between the quality of life for whites and blacks is much worse in Dane County, the epicenter for progressive politics in Wisconsin and often ranked among one of the best places in America to live.