Publisher's Weekly Review
In this solid political history, Gillon, historian at the History Channel, provides the inside story of the Kerner Commission-the group assembled by President Lyndon Johnson to present an unsettled nation with an authoritative report on the race riots of 1967. In an accessible narrative, Gillon provides a thorough examination of the commission: the selection of its members, how its work would be organized, Johnson's political interference, and the various debates among commissioners. Gillon also recounts the political motivations behind the commission's formation, describing how Johnson aimed to "kick the issue of urban violence down the road" and eventually obtain an endorsement for his Great Society programs. Remarkably, the final report bluntly and provocatively blamed white racism for the riots; it starkly detailed the wretched conditions of African-Americans in the country's poor urban areas-substandard housing, unemployment, underfunded education, rampant police brutality-and highlighted what Gillon explains was "the deep and profound sense of rejection and alienation felt by many African Americans." In "the last gasp of 1960s liberalism," the report, released in 1968, forcibly and urgently asserted the need for the federal government to take a leading role in alleviating such conditions, to a higher degree than previously considered. Gillon's thought-provoking look into the Kerner Commission provides great insight into race issues of 1960s America. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
An eerily timely account of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, better known as the Kerner Commission.In 1967, President Lyndon Johnson hurriedly appointed the high-profile commission in response to widespread race-based unrest around the country, especially in Detroit and Newark. Like many former presidents who announced advisory groups, Johnson sought to offer the appearance of concern without having to concretely address the unrest. The president hoped the commission would delay any report until after the 1968 presidential campaign. However, pushed by commission staff lawyers as well as members John Lindsay, the mayor of New York City, and Sen. Fred Harris, a detailed, scathing report about white degradation of black urban areas quickly became reality. Gillon (History/Univ. of Oklahoma; Pearl Harbor: FDR Leads the Nation into War, 2011, etc.), a resident historian for the History Channel, describes the many internal controversies of the commission using authoritative details and lively prose. He also goes beyond the inner workings to demonstrate how the commission helped countless Americans better understand the alarming realities of nationwide racism. The public awareness of the report emerged the same week as the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and the convergence of those two events meant an unexpectedly intense focus on racism throughout the country. With the reality of systemic racism finally recognized among prominent white Americans, it appeared that African-Americans could feel safer about speaking truth to power without sounding like overzealous radicals. Gillon's research about the Kerner Commission, bolstered by hours of interviews with the surviving members, is extremely well-documented and also offers the feel of being ripped from today's headlines. "The report's most important legacy," writes the author, "was its willingness to acknowledge the role of white racism in creating the conditions that sparked the riots.Unfortunately, despite all the progress that has been made over the past five decades, many of those same conditions still exist."Well-rendered popular American history that also speaks to present-day issues. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Choice Review
Those who remember the Kerner Commission only for its famous warning that the US was "moving toward two societies, one black, one white--separate and unequal" will find this book highly enlightening. Gillon (Univ. of Oklahoma) effectively makes the case that the commission's 1968 report revealed the "limits of American liberalism" and was a significant marker of the political and racial divisions that characterize American society to this day. Faced with growing controversy over the Vietnam War and public alarm over horrendous riots in 1967, President Lyndon Johnson concluded that he could somewhat defuse the latter issue by authorizing a commission to answer the fundamental question of "why?" As Gillon skillfully demonstrates, Johnson was outraged when the commission, chiefly comprising establishment figures, failed to produce a report endorsing the progress achieved by his Great Society programs and instead pointed a finger at white racism as a chief cause of inner-city turmoil. Johnson's insufferable pettiness becomes evident in his snide treatment of Senator Fred Harris and his visceral detestation of New York Mayor John Lindsey, both of whom were leading participants. Ultimately, Johnson took every possible step to obstruct and diminish the commission's work. This admirable study concludes with a chapter on the nation's deepening racial and political divisions after 1968. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All public and academic levels/libraries --Blaine T. Browne, emeritus, emeritus Broward College
Library Journal Review
Racism remains a deeply troubling aspect of American history and culture, and Gillon's (history, Univ. of Oklahoma; The American Paradox) excellent history of the 1967-68 National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, more popularly known as the Kerner Commission, provides historical insight on today's political climate. The author, a scholar-in-residence for the History Channel, describes how the riots that took place in Los Angeles, Detroit, and Newark, NJ, in mid-1960s spurred President Lyndon Johnson to create the Kerner Commission in an attempt to investigate the causes of these uprisings and recommend ways to avoid future occurrences. Gillon presents a smoothly crafted assessment of the commission and its recommendations, such as expanding aid to African American communities, most of which were not followed by Johnson. The author notes how, in many respects, the commission represented one of the last efforts to promote the federal government as the solution to social problems. The conservative movement was already growing in popularity by 1968, and any discussion of further government expansion into the social realm was becoming less popular with an America that was stymied by the Vietnam War and Great Society programs. VERDICT An exceptionally well-researched and timely history that belongs on the shelves of public and academic libraries.-Ed Goedeken, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.