An Ounce of Prevention

The recent social upheaval in the wake of George Floyd’s death is reminiscent of the country’s turmoil in the late 1960s. In response to that social upheaval, President Lyndon Johnson charged what came to be known as the Kerner Commission with investigating the riots’ causes across 20 major American cities and recommending what could be done to prevent their reoccurrence. Among the most prominently mentioned causes of the riots was “inadequate recreation areas and facilities” in impoverished urban areas (National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, 1968, p. 104). In its recommendations, however, the Kerner Commission largely ignored the importance of recreation areas and facilities. Our commentary discusses why that was the case then, and why that should not be the case now.

Perceptions of Racial Progress and Mistreatment Today

In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson established the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders to examine why race relations in the United States were in such a state of confusion that it had resulted in civil disturbances. By 1968, the trajectory of race relations and racial disparities, with regard to the quality of life and standards of living, were such that the commission wrote, “Our nation is moving toward two societies, one Black, one White, separate and unequal.” Since the start of the twenty-first century, economic recessions, natural disasters, and civil unrest have exposed the continuation of pervasive differences in the perceptions of racial progress between Blacks and Whites. This article aims to examine perceptions of racial progress and the continuation of unfair racial treatment within the context of the commission’s “two nations” thesis. The findings of this article suggest that Blacks remain considerably more pessimistic than Whites about the state of racial affairs in the US today. How do we explain this conundrum in light of the passage of the civil rights legislation of the 1960s? We begin with the premise that race is still a problem in today’s society, but it is a problem in ways that are very different from when the Kerner Commission report was released.

Network television writers and the ‘race problems’ of 1968

This article examines the development of television scripts in the crime drama genre within the context of US commercial broadcasting in the network era. In 1968, public discourse around race relations, civil rights and violence reached a height following the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr and Robert F. Kennedy, and the release of a government study on urban uprisings by the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders. Ironside (1967‐75, NBC) and N.Y.P.D. (1967‐69, ABC) are two crime dramas that drew on recent events related to black militants and white supremacy in order to appeal to viewers with socially relevant entertainment during this time. The archival records of screenwriters Sy Salkowitz and Lonne Elder make it possible to trace the development of one episode from each series over the course of multiple drafts. This analysis of the script development process explores the relationship between public discourse, industrial context, commercial agendas and creative priorities. Ironside and N.Y.P.D. are both crime dramas, but an examination of both series yields points of divergence which help to illustrate the norms of the network system in terms of act structure, genre tropes, and the oversight of standards and practices.

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

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.