Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders: A Review Article

Abstract

"On March 1, 1968, the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders made public its findings concerning the nature, causes, and solutions to the violence which rocked many of the nation's cities during the "long, hot summer" of 1967. The basic conclusion of the Report is: "Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white-separate and unequal". The main culprit is said to be "white racism." Tom Wicker, of the New York Times, writes in the introduction to the Report: "What had to be said has been said at last." Although the conclusion is not new, what is surprising and encouraging is that a national commission composed exclusively of moderates would reach such a conclusion unanimously and would express its findings so effectively."