After rioting had erupted in several American cities beginning in 1965, President Lyndon Johnson appointed the 11-member National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders in July 1967. Chaired by Illinois Gov. Otto Kerner, the group became known as the Kerner Commission and issued its report in February 1968.
The report famously warned, “Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal.” It cited a lack of economic opportunity in those places where the riots occurred, and it severely criticized the media for not offering a wide-enough range of perspectives on the American experience.
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