Study: Hispanic prisoners vastly outnumber dorm students

The U.S. Census Bureau released a study today which found that for every Hispanic living in a college dorm almost three are imprisoned. Though the stats do not include students who reside off-campus, the data reveal that the prison population of Hispanics has grown since 1980 when the ratio favored dorm residents.

The study does not fare much better for blacks whose prison to dorm ratio is over 3 to 1.

Can anything be done to reverse this trend? Urban League president Marc Morial believes so even if politicians are not looking in the right direction:

Morial, who is a former mayor of New Orleans, said the political debate over high incarceration rates for minorities hasn't yielded results. He said conservatives blame a lack of family values while liberals blame a lack of government programs, with neither side seeing the whole picture.

"We do, in the African-American community, need to instill a stronger value on education," Morial said.

But, he added, minority students also need more early childhood education, longer school days, longer school years and more meaningful summer job opportunities.

"We need to get serious about true investment on the front end," Morial said.

The same study also found that the percentage of Hispanics in nursing homes is small compared to the overall population; a disparity which one expert noted as being mainly cultural since “Hispanics and blacks are more reticent about placing loved ones into a nursing home.”

(Hat tip: The Daily Dish).

Sources- USA TODAY – On Deadline, New York Times, Associated Press, floridatoday.com, The Daily Dish

Image- plus magazine