Kerner at 50
Channel: TheLBJLibrary
Date: 2018-03-16

On Monday, March 5, 2018, the LBJ Presidential Library, along with The University of Texas at Austin's Social Justice Institute and several other campus partners, commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Kerner Commission Report with a panel discussion. 

Panelists included:
- Dr. Eric Tang, associate professor in UT’s African and African Diaspora Studies Department (Moderator)
- Former U.S. Senator Fred Harris, D-Oklahoma, the last surviving member of the Kerner Commission
- Julian Castro, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and a visiting professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs
- Dr. Kathleen McElroy, journalist and former editor of The New York Times and the director of the School of Journalism at The University of Texas at Austin

About the commission
In the aftermath of the 1967 urban riots, President Lyndon B. Johnson established the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, better known as the Kerner Commission in reference to its chair, former Illinois governor Otto Kerner.

The 11-member commission examined the conditions of the cities that rioted and made recommendations addressing the underlying causes. The commission’s report, released on Feb. 29, 1968, historically asserted that despite the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the nation was “moving toward two societies, one Black, one white—separate and unequal.”

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Program Recap: http://diversity.utexas.edu/2018/03/06/recap-kerner-at-50-event-examines-past-and-present-racial-inequalities/

Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lbjlibrarynow/albums/72157692443199151