Two Societies: The Writing of the Summary of the Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders

Abstract

The Kerner Commission examined the riots that occurred throughout the United States in 1967. The summary of its Final Report concluded that the nation was moving toward “two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal.” So powerful is the wording that it continues to be invoked whenever there is a Ferguson-type incident. While much has been written about the reaction to the Kerner Report, little has been known about the summary’s development or why it has endured. New interviews with key participants and an examination of Kerner Commission files have not only resulted in the discovery of information which runs counter to what was previously thought, but helps explain why the summary is still influential after almost fifty years.

Of Riots and Racism: Fifty Years Since the Best Laid Schemes of the Kerner Commission (1968–2018)

“…Scholarship on specific expressions and words related to race riots guided my creation of an initial coding schema (Darden and Thomas 2013;Kurashige 2017;Miller 2014;Olzak, Shanahan, and McEneaney 1996;van Dijk 1992;Wise 2017). To this step, I added the extant scholarship on the KCR (Boger 1992;Calmore 1992;Carter 1990;Embrick 2015;Fogelson et al 1969;Green 2015;Hahn 1970;Hahn and Feagin 1970;Johnson and Farrell 1992;Lehman 1968;Lipsky 1971;Lipsky and Olson 1969;Loessberg 2017;Rosenbaum et al 1992;Stoesz 1992;Stone 1992;Strauss 2014;Taylor 1992;Wegner 1992;Wickham and Zuberi 2008). This first stage gave me insight into the context in which the KCR was conceived, implemented, analyzed, and written.…”

“…To this step, I added the extant scholarship on the KCR (Boger ; Calmore ; Carter ; Embrick ; Fogelson et al. ; Green ; Hahn ; Hahn and Feagin ; Johnson and Farrell ; Lehman ; Lipsky ; Lipsky and Olson ; Loessberg ; Rosenbaum et al. ; Stoesz ; Stone ; Strauss ; Taylor ; Wegner 1992; Wickham and Zuberi ).…”

“…Now half a century removed, one can more easily understand the KCR's emphasis on the twin axes of riots and racism. David G. Embrick (:837) finds that “the Kerner Report was instrumental for showcasing America's hypocrisy… and one of the top grievances blacks had mentioned regarding consistent inequality in their cities that was largely ignored: police practices.” And Rick Loessberg (:2) wrote, in citing former legislator Gordon MacInnes, that the KCR should “be regarded as ‘the touchstone for race relations’ and ‘a chronological and ideological benchmark in the debate on the destiny of the nation's inner cities.’” Given this twofold focus, it is important to review how the KCR employed the concepts of riots and racism and, in so doing, interrogate the guiding principles of that knowledge production.…”

“… See Loessberg (:12): “What the Commission was about to conclude was not only a major departure from convention, but it was doing so in a very powerful manner. [Commission member Fred] Harris recalls that when the Commission had earlier come to the conclusion that discrimination and racism were the cause of the problems that now threatened the nation, there was initially a hesitancy to use these words because of the harshness associated with them.” …”

“Why Wouldn’t I Have Asked Him?”: Herbert Gans, Chapter 9 of the Kerner Report, and the Resolution of a Dilemma

“…However, Palmieri (2018) says that he performed this task. Given how senior staff usually reviewed drafts of the final report (Loessberg, 2017), it is very likely that both were involved. Moreover, the amount of editing that was done, regardless of by whom, was relatively routine and included adding a new introduction, reversing and revising the last two paragraphs, eliminating extraneous wording, deleting references to specific ethnic groups (“Irish, Italians, Polish, Greek, Jewish, and other men,” for instance, became “the men of other ethnic groups”), and improving transitions.…”