Kerner Commission Report Released
February 29, 1968 · 20th Century
On February 29, 1968, the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders — chaired by Illinois Governor Otto Kerner — released its landmark report on the causes of the 1967 urban uprisings. The report concluded that the United States was "moving toward two societies, one Black, one white — separate and unequal," and identified white racism and discriminatory policing as root causes. It documented specific patterns of police misconduct, inadequate housing, unemployment, and institutional exclusion. President Johnson largely ignored its recommendations. The report remains a primary government document on structural racism in America.
Key Figures
Lyndon B. JohnsonRoy WilkinsRobert F. KennedyOtto Kerner
Locations
Washington, D.C.
Topics
civil rightsUSAafrican american historyracismpolicingsystemic racismgovernment report
Connected Events — 8 Connections
Documented that structural racism persisted despite Civil Rights Act of 1964
Documented concentrated poverty in northern cities created by The Great Migration Begins
Released six weeks before — recommendations ignored in wake of Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Directly commissioned in response to 1967 Detroit Uprising
Demonstrated persistence of patterns documented by Rodney King Beating by LAPD Officers
Demonstrated that warnings of 1992 Los Angeles Riots and Uprising
DOJ investigation confirmed persistence of patterns documented in Shooting of Michael Brown
Demonstrated fifty-year failure to implement recommendations of Murder of George Floyd
The Time Detectives® · Cadet Mission
Investigate This Event
Place it on the timeline. Earn points. Master the connections.
New to The Time Detectives?
Learn what it is →