Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders @50 #4

This February marks the fiftieth anniversary release of the “Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders,” requested by President Lyndon Johnson in 1967. The report stated: “These words come to our minds as we conclude this report. We have provided an honest beginning. We have learned much. But we have uncovered no startling truths, no unique insights, no simple solutions. The destruction and the bitterness of racial disorder, the harsh polemics of black revolt and white repression have been seen and heard before in this country. It is time now to end the destruction and the violence, not only in the streets of the ghetto but in the lives of people.” It concluded: “Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal.”