Late last week, State Sen. LaTonya Johnson of Milwaukee gave an update on racial disparities affecting Black Wisconsinites.
In her “State of Black Wisconsin” address, Johnson talked about how Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ budget proposal could affect outcomes for Black Wisconsinites. Johnson said that in almost all areas, racial gaps negatively impacting the Black community in Wisconsin have been growing. She circled back to the youth affected by these statistics.
Wisconsin has one of the worst rates of Black infant mortality in the nation, almost 40% of Milwaukee’s African American children live in poverty, and Milwaukee children are at higher risk of lead poisoning than those in Flint, Michigan.
“Our African American children are in a state of crisis, and we know this, but there are certain things we can do to make sure our children are OK,” Johnson said.
Johnson also delved into incarceration in Wisconsin. She pointed to a study that shows Black men in Wisconsin are incarcerated at 14 times the rate of white men.
Johnson said Gov. Tony Evers proposed several changes in the Department of Corrections in his budget for 2025-27. Including raising the age for adult corrections, from 17 to 18 and restructuring prison facilities to allow for the closure of Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake youth detention centers.
Johnson pointed out that under Evers’ budget, the estimated cost to take care of a young person in a detention center would be $800,000 per year, much more than is spent per student in the average Wisconsin public school.
“So those numbers are ridiculous, especially when we know that it costs more to rehabilitate a kid than to justget the situation correct the first time,” Johnson said.
Johnson stressed that education could help prevent incarceration.
Wisconsin’s Black-white high school graduation gap is the largest in the country.
Johnson pointed to possible solutions in Evers’ proposed budget, which includes additional dollars for K-12 schools, along with after school programming, and expanding literacy and math programs for low-income students. Evers also wants to expand the Bucky’s Tuition Promise for students whose family makes less than $62,000 a year to attend any UW school tuition free.
“If we can allow low-income kids to go to school for free, that is a game changer. Especially for BIPOC communities. We are lacking all of these things like psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, doctors. This is the key to ensuring that we can continue filling those career pipelines without costing a lot of student loan debt to our kids that they will not be able to pay, or it’ll cost them long term,” Johnson said.
Evers’ budget proposal will go next to the Republican-controlled Legislature. Johnson, who is a Democrat, said she’ll advocate for resources that could help reduce Wisconsin’s staggering racial disparities.
