National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders

In 1968 the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (also known as the Kerner Commission) concluded that the country, despite civil rights reforms, was moving “toward two societies one Black, one white—separate and unequal.” By the time of the commission’s report, claims that Black gains had resulted in…

…place, President Johnson appointed a National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (the Kerner Commission) to investigate the violent disorders that had erupted in several U.S. cities, including Detroit, since 1965. The commission’s 1968 report cited white racism, discrimination, and poverty as among the causative factors and famously warned that “our…

…Lyndon Johnson to form the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, also known (for the Illinois committee chairman) as the Kerner Commission. Harris described his work on the commission as a “Damascus Road experience.” Although he had been active in the civil rights movement, he began to see the problems…