美国国家公共电台 NPR Report Updates Landmark 1968 Racism Study, Finds More Poverty And Segregation

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Fifty years ago this week, President Johnson's commission on civil disorders² released the Kerner Report. This was an attempt to explain why so many of the country's cities erupted in riots. Now many observers say this report can tell Americans a lot about the issues fueling racial tensions today. From NPR's Code Switch team, here's Karen Grigsby Bates.

KAREN GRIGSBY BATES, BYLINE³: In July 1967, recognizing that five days of rioting in Detroit had left the entire country anxious and on edge, President Lyndon Johnson made a special television address to the nation.

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LYNDON B. JOHNSON: We have endured a week such as no nation should live through, a time of violence and tragedy.

BATES: In the same address, he announced a new initiative.

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JOHNSON: I'm tonight appointing a special advisory⁴ commission on civil disorders. Governor Otto Kerner of Illinois has agreed to serve as chairman.

BATES: The Kerner Commission was established while Detroit was still smoking. Princeton historian Julian Zelizer, who has written about the report's impact, says the president wasn't so sure he even wanted a commission.

JULIAN ZELIZER: He's very fearful from the start that the commission will end up blaming him. And at the same time, they'll say you have to do things that Congress - he knows - would never accept. And he would look bad.

BATES: The commission was populated with very mainstream⁵ politicians, civic⁶ and business leaders. But the conclusions it reached were pretty radical⁷. Unless something was done, it famously warned America was in danger of becoming two societies - one black, one white, separate and unequal. It was, says Princeton's Julian Zelizer, a pretty startling opinion at the time. And he says it's still pertinent⁸.

ZELIZER: In terms of criminal justice and the way race affects it, I think the findings are so relevant. And you could almost take portions of the report, adjust them obviously to contemporary times. But they would still resonate with what we're dealing⁹ with today.

BATES: Segregation¹⁰ in housing and education, lack of opportunity and police violence in communities of color were some of the reasons cited for the unrest then, just as they've been more recently in places like Ferguson, Mo., and Baltimore. Much to the irritation¹¹ of one member, most of the press reduced the intricate nuanced report to this.

FRED HARRIS: White racism¹² cause of black riots, commission says.

BATES: That's former Oklahoma Senator Fred Harris, the only living member of the Kerner Commission panel.

HARRIS: I was 37 when I served on the commission. And who ever thought that, 50 years later, we'd still be talking about the same things? That's kind of sad.

BATES: At the University of Texas, historian Peniel Joseph says the national reaction to the commission's report was mixed.

PENIEL JOSEPH: Some people really applauded the candor¹³ of the report because the report really laid the blame for the violence at the feet of institutional racism and white oppression.

BATES: Not everybody agreed, though.

JOSEPH: Others felt that the report was just justifying¹⁴ violence. But it was something people paid attention to. And that was a best-seller for a time.

BATES: It's true. This government report by a panel of establishment types was published as a book. The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders - usually called "The Kerner Report" - was a thick paperback¹⁵, more than 600 pages. It became a best-seller and was in such demand that 23 editions were printed. Despite that, Fred Harris says Lyndon Johnson was done with his commission. Instead of the usual formal handshake and thank you to commission members...

HARRIS: He refused to meet with us to receive our report. And that's particularly sad to me because President Johnson did more against racism and poverty than any president before or since.

JOSEPH: He was being criticized from his left by people like Dr. King, saying that all the money he spent in Vietnam should've been spent on anti-poverty efforts and racial justice efforts.

BATES: Again, Peniel Joseph.

JOSEPH: And on his right, he was being criticized by conservatives who supported the war effort but rejected the Great Society and felt as if the Great Society was justifying law and disorder¹.

BATES: So the Kerner Report was put aside. But this week, a sequel to the original report was released. Its conclusion - widening inequality has become a threat to American democracy.

Karen Grigsby Bates, NPR News.

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1 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

2 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

5 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

6 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

7 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

8 pertinent   

adj.恰当的；贴切的；中肯的；有关的；相干的

参考例句：

• The expert made some pertinent comments on the scheme.那专家对规划提出了一些中肯的意见。
• These should guide him to pertinent questions for further study.这些将有助于他进一步研究有关问题。

9 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

10 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。

11 irritation   

n.激怒，恼怒，生气

参考例句：

• He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
• Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说，但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。

12 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

13 candor   

n.坦白，率真

参考例句：

• He covered a wide range of topics with unusual candor.他极其坦率地谈了许多问题。
• He and his wife had avoided candor,and they had drained their marriage.他们夫妻间不坦率，已使婚姻奄奄一息。

14 justifying   

证明…有理( justify的现在分词 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护）

参考例句：

• He admitted it without justifying it. 他不加辩解地承认这个想法。
• The fellow-travellers'service usually consisted of justifying all the tergiversations of Soviet intenal and foreign policy. 同路人的服务通常包括对苏联国内外政策中一切互相矛盾之处进行辩护。

15 paperback   

n.平装本，简装本

参考例句：

• A paperback edition is now available at bookshops.平装本现在在书店可以买到。
• Many books that are out of print are reissued in paperback form.许多绝版的书籍又以平装本形式重新出现。