The Kerner Report
History: KS3, topic 21.1.15
The Kerner Report
President Johnson started to put more money into improving the ghettos and set up an enquiry into the riots of 1965–67.
The ghettos
- The riots drew attention to the problems in the ghettos.
- Martin Luther King visited Watts and started an SCLC campaign in the North.
- President Johnson started to put more money into improving the ghettos and set up an enquiry into the riots.
The Kerner Report
- The Kerner Report said that:
- The riots were caused by poor ghetto conditions, and that white officials had failed to fix the problems there.
- White officials needed to involve black communities in decisions and listen to their issues.
The Kerner Report contents
- Policing should be changed to stop police violence and support the community.
- Federal money should be spent on improving conditions not on police training which just gave them more weapons to deal with riots in a violent manner.
- The media had over-exaggerated the extent and the violence of the riots, which hadn’t helped.