Contact us at: whispernthunder1@gmail.comRacism and the Oklahoma Justice System
~ Joelle Clark
According to the Prison Policy Initiative in 2021
There were 2186 African American Prisoners
736 Native American
504 Native Hawian or Pacific Islander
101 Asian
439 Caucasian
Being held in Oklahoma State Prisons
In May of 2024 the number of Native Americans
being held was listed as 1700 in State Prisons alone.
These numbers do not include County Jails.
Below is the Bureau Of Census most recent
demographics per race.
The percent distribution of Oklahoma population by race (across all racial categories recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau):
68.42% are white, 7.16% are Black or African American, 7.52% are American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.31% are Asian, 0.18% are Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, 3.13% are some other race and 11.27% are multiracial.
When you compare the Incarceration Numbers to the breakdown of population by race you find a horrendous disparity..
It becomes apparent why people of color and especially Native Americans are calling for equal justice and why many feel that the Supreme Court's McQuirt Decision needs to apply to all of the State of Oklahoma, since it does not apply to all the Oklahoma Tribes. Sadly two of the Tribes who always considered the region to be part of their Homeland,those being the Apache & Comanche Tribes
One of the best cases that I personally am aware of, that shows the need for justice reform, especially in Oklahoma is the case of Winston Walters(Red Elk)
Winston is an enrolled member of the Comanche Tribe of Oklahoma. At the age of 19 he was arrested for supposedly being involved in a crime that took place on his home reservation. In spite of having no criminal record and having an alibi,plus the fact that the victims originally identified their attackers as being two young white men and positively identified their nephew as being one of them. Winston is neither white nor their nephew.
Their nephew was arrested and then released for lack of evidence because his fingerprints were not on the duct tape used to restrain the female victim. Ironically neither were Winston’s .
Winston was arrested with no record, an alibi and no physical evidence linking him to the crime scene and held in county jail for almost 2 years with a 2.5 million dollar bail,before being tried by an all caucasian jury, found guilty and sentenced to 92 years with-out even given credit for time served. This is effectively a sentence of death by incarceration for a crime, he didn't commit and no one died in.
The case of Winston Walters (Red Elk) has to be one of the worst travesties of justice to ever occur in the State of Oklahoma and indeed in the United States.
More Information on Winston’s case may be found at:
www.freewinstonwalters.com
These facts, numbers and the story of Winston Walters should be enough to cause all Oklahoma citizens and indeed, all Americans to stand up and start demanding equal justice for everyone no matter Race, Religion or Ethnicity. It's past the time that the Rule of Law applies equally to all or none.