The Kerner Report

by National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, Julian E. Zelizer (Introduction)

A landmark study of racism, inequality, and police violence that continues to hold important lessons today

The Kerner Report is a powerful window into the roots of racism and inequality in the United States. Hailed by Martin Luther King Jr. as a "physician's warning of approaching death, with a prescription for life," this historic study was produced by a presidential commission established by Lyndon Johnson, chaired by former Illinois governor Otto Kerner, and provides a riveting account of the riots that shook 1960s America. The commission pointed to the polarization of American society, white racism, economic inopportunity, and other factors, arguing that only "a compassionate, massive, and sustained" effort could reverse the troubling reality of a racially divided, separate, and unequal society. Conservatives criticized the report as a justification of lawless violence while leftist radicals complained that Kerner didn’t go far enough. But for most Americans, this report was an eye-opening account of what was wrong in race relations.

Drawing together decades of scholarship showing the widespread and ingrained nature of racism, The Kerner Report provided an important set of arguments about what the nation needs to do to achieve racial justice, one that is familiar in today’s climate. Presented here with an introduction by historian Julian Zelizer, The Kerner Report deserves renewed attention in America’s continuing struggle to achieve true parity in race relations, income, employment, education, and other critical areas.

Genres: History, Politics, Race, Nonfiction, Social Justice

544 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

Reviews

[Eleesha Blakesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started this back in 2018 not fully understanding how relevant it is. It came to my attention because 2018 was the 50th anniversary of the report. The sole surviving member of the commission with others put out an update. And the update basically states that their recommendations were ignored or policies were implemented that reversed the progress we were making towards racial equality and the end of systemic racism.

If you want to understand the riots in Detroit in the late 60’s this report breaks it down with recommendations of what needed to change. Things didn’t change. And in some instances things have gotten worse. Schools are again segregated. There are severe inequalities in housing, jobs, education, healthcare and a profound distrust of police and elected officials. All of this ultimately climaxes in civil unrest, riots, protests, looting, destruction of property and so on.

You want to understand what is happening in the wake of the death of George Floyd? Read this. The language is a bit dated. Somethings when it comes to policing have been tried and failed. You want things to change? Well, America needs more than the end of police brutality. It’s bigger and more complex than a “few bad apples.” Racism is systemic in our institutions. If you don’t believe that I can give you a list or sources that support that assertion.

[Belston Campfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read. I read this during the George Floyd riots. These issues are obviously still prevalent today.

[Marsha Altman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up because Jill Lepore mentioned it in a recent New Yorker article about how the research about what causes the Black population to protest in cities has already been done. (Her article is called 'The History of the Riot Report' and you can find it online.) We know why it happens and we know how to prevent it. We know the root causes. We figured them all out in 1967, but we refused to implement the recommendations of the committee.

You could take this book, replace the n-word with "Black," change all of the dates from 1967 to 2020, and republish it and it would read fine to our present time. Surprise: Black people are not given the same economic opportunities or representation in government as white people, and the police response to any complaints is violence, and that's a problem.

Somewhere in the multiverse there's a timeline where we took all of the suggestions listed in the Kerner Report, and I'd really like to see that America.

[David Starr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely important. Provides crucial insight into America’s urban and racial crisis that erupted in the 1960’s. Which in turn sheds light on liberal thought, and the political tensions and trends that often dominated American politics then and continue to resonate down to the present. Required reading.

[bookish]

Just sampled this report/book by reading Chapter 4, and WOW. It’s incredible how much the chapter, which discusses the underlying reasons for the outbreak of riots in *1967*, speaks to what’s happening now in 2020 and why. It’s also sad that more than 50 years later we’re still talking about this and nothing much has changed.

[William Taggart · Rating 4 out of 5]

As some who wrote a book on our modern problems (Fixing America) it was amazing to read a report from 1968, that spoke about a lot of the same issues and even proposed some of the same solutions. We have had our best minds look at this, we just don't want to do the changes necessary to address the problems.

[Jennifer]

Worth reading, provides definition and outline for "white racism" (10) and other tit bits for its time, e.g. critiques emphasis of changing white attitudes rather than structural inequities (3) or the lack of contextualizing who in the system benefits from racism (156).

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most powerful lines comes in the summary, “The major need [to address racial inequity] is to generate new will - the will to tax ourselves to the extent necessary to meet the vital needs of the Nation.”

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

This report is a stark reminder of how little progress has been made in the aggregate. It reads like it is talking about 2020 in the US!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Feels like most of it could have been written yesterday, with the exception that institutional racism has had a further 56 years to take root.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

history

[Kidada · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dense but thorough.