![]() The report warned that the first option, staying the course, would lead to more "violent protest" by African Americans in the inner city and more racial polarization thoughout the nation. The Kerner Commission strongly endorsed the third option, enrichment through massive resources for urban centers combined with racial integration as an explicit policy goal. "We can pursue integration by combining ghetto 'enrichment' with policies which will encourage Negro movement out of central city areas."."We can adopt a policy of "enrichment" aimed at improving dramatically the quality of ghetto life while abandoning integration as a goal".and the inadequate and failing effort to achieve an integrated society" The Kerner Commission presented Americans with three alternatives: ![]() The Kerner Report also issued a stark warning: "Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white-separate and unequal." The situation had become even worse since the summer of 1967, because of white backlash against the civil rights movement and continued white flight to the suburbs. "White racism is essentially responsible for the explosive mixture which has been accumulating in our cities since the end of World War II"-Kerner Commission Report, 1968, p. White institutions created it, white institutions maintain it, and white society condones it." The Kerner Commission concluded: The section on "Why Did It Happen?" identified racial segregation and discrimination in housing, education, and employment that created hopelessness and despair in the inner city ghettoes: "White society is deeply implicated in the ghetto. The opening summary (at right) made clear that "mob rule" would not be tolerated but placed the primary responsibility for the civil unrest on white Americans and white institutions. The Kerner Report was the most hard-hitting indictment of white racism and racial segregation produced by any American government agency or commission up to that point. What can be done to prevent it from happening again?.The inquiry focused on the three questions that President Johnson had placed on its agenda: ![]() In its investigation, the Kerner Commission visited Detroit and a number of other cities that had experienced racial unrest, interviewing a broad range of actors from mayors and police chiefs to community activists and black militants. Instead the Kerner Report, released in March 1968, placed the fundamental blame for the urban crisis on white institutions and white racism, exacerbated by police brutality. He expected that the Kerner Commission would find evidence that a black militant conspiracy had instigated the violence, which it did not. The president primarily wanted an investigation of "the rioters" and what had caused the explosion of racial violence. ![]() President Lyndon Johnson established the National Advisory Commission on Violence and Civil Disorders, better known as the Kerner Commission, to examine the causes of the racial unrest in Detroit, Newark, and other American cities. "Two Societies" warning from opening page of Kerner Commission Report (March 1968)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |