This week we have seen the repeat of the protests and riots of the 1960s. They have been triggered by a white policeman’s murder of an unarmed black man named George Floyd in Minneapolis. The unrest goes deeper, way deeper. The racial injustice African Americans experience every day, and the lack of progress or interest in addressing it is fueling the massive protests we see in the news every day. Here is a historical perspective.
In 1968 the federal government recognized the danger of continued civil unrest on a national scale. If the root causes were not dealt with our democracy and way of life were at risk. And so in 1967 the Johnson Administration formed the Kerner Commission to study the root causes of the unrest and come up with recommendations to address the problem before it got worse. President Johnson’s perspective is telling.
“The only genuine, long-range solution for what has happened lies in an attack mounted at every level-upon the conditions that breed despair and violence. All of us know what those conditions are: ignorance, discrimination, slums, poverty, disease, not enough jobs. We should attack these conditions-not because we are frightened by conflict, but because we are fired by conscience. We should attack them because there is simply no other way to achieve a decent and orderly society in America….”
The operative words are “attack at every level”. 1968.
The Kerner Report was released on February 29, 1968, after seven months of investigation. The report became an instant bestseller, and over two million Americans bought copies of the 426-page document. Its finding was that the riots resulted from black frustration at the lack of economic opportunity. Martin Luther King Jr. pronounced the report a “physician’s warning of approaching death, with a prescription for life.” Six weeks later he was assassinated.
The report’s most famous passage warned, “Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal.” The report was a strong indictment of white America: “What white Americans have never fully understood but what the Negro can never forget — is that white society is deeply implicated in the ghetto. White institutions created it, white institutions maintain it, and white society condones it.”
Significantly, President Johnson ignored the recommendations.
It has been 52 years since the Kerner Report was published. We know what the problems are. We even know what some of the solutions are. And yet in 52 years there has been very little progress toward eliminating racial disparities in our country. The efforts we have seen at all institutional levels have been incremental, too little, too slow and therefore we have seen very little fundamental change. We can easily conclude that our institutions have failed us. Government hasn’t done enough, the church hasn’t done enough, public corporations and non-profits haven’t done enough. And therein lies the root cause of the civil unrest we are seeing today, triggered by the murder of George Floyd. No wonder people are angry and frustrated!
But maybe our institutions haven’t failed us, maybe we have failed our institutions. To be honest racial justice has not been on the front burner of the government, our educational system, corporate priorities or the focus of the church. So I don’t think the right thing to do is abandon our institutions but to participate within our institutions with a singular focus of eradicating racial Injustice. As President Johnson said, “we must attack the problem at every level”.
I believe we all want to see progress toward the elimination of racial Injustice. But that means the elimination of racial Injustice has to become a personal priority. We have to ask ourselves tough questions, like “Am I part of the problem?” Maybe someone needs to get in our face and demand we look carefully at ourselves and answer that question.
Recently our African American leaders are shouting, “YES! You are part of the problem! Your silence endorses the status quo, and the status quo is no longer acceptable.” It means we have to engage at the local level and hold each other accountable for how we spend our time and money and influence. In Madison there are many ways to engage: Boys and Girls Club, Justified Anger, Nehemiah, Selfless Ambition, Psalm 46, the Collaboration Project, and many other organizations would love to have us join the struggle.
It means we have to demand our civic, corporate and religious leaders set an aggressive agenda that will eradicate racial injustice and hold them accountable for staying the course. And if they don’t, kick ‘em out!
Have we turned the corner on addressing racial injustice? Will George Floyd’s death be the catalyst that lights a fire (poor metaphor) for cultural transformation? Time will tell. We cannot wait another 52 years to find out!
Now is not the time for platitudes but I believe “Where there is a will, there is a way” and “Actions speak louder than words” Do you believe that? Now is the time.
Wikipedia Photo by Fibonacci Blue, George Floyd Memorial at Chicago Avenue and 38th Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota