The Conclusion of Kerner Commission Report - Essay Example

My extensive research on the riots enabled me to realize that there are significant differences between what the commission reported and what actually happened back in the mid 1960s. I found that the riots were far less destructive than they were claimed to be and in most cases there were no serious confrontations between black and white people. Therefore, what actually happened was less extensive and less destructive than it was reported by the mass media. However, most of the public sector lacked other sources of information and believed what they saw on the television or heard on the radio and thus their beliefs and impressions were shaped accordingly.

(Symposium: The Urban Crisis: the Kerner Commission Report Revisited., 1993 pg 10-15) Therefore, most of the American society was a victim of what is known as the sensationalizing strategy of mass media. I believe that the Commissions claim regarding two societies has ever materialized. My view is backed up by the fact that by 1985, American African population in the suburbs had increased to approximately 20.8 million. If America had been moving towards distinct unequal black and white societies as predicted by the Kerner Report, then the American Africans would not have been able to gain the immense political success which they have in the modern society.

An African American scholar W. E. B. Du Bois over 100 years ago stated that: “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line” (Walker et al 2007 pg 1) . If America had been moving towards distinct unequal black and white societies as predicted by the Kerner Report, then the American Africans would not have been able to gain the immense political success which they have in the modern society. An African American scholar W. E. B. Du Bois over 100 years ago stated that: “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line” (Walker et al 2007 pg 1) I do believe that wherever multi cultural societies live in close proximity, racism will be inevitable.

But what I do not believe is that racism alone is capable of dividing the nation. Despite all the controversies, the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s was a success because due its efforts the African American population has been able to accomplish its birth right i.e. an equal status to American white population. Before the Civil Rights movement was launched, African American population did not have an equal status to the white and were not even allowed to vote. (Walker et al 2007 page 23).

Therefore, they had no elected representation in American Parliament. After the Civil Rights movement was launched, things started to change dramatically. In accordance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Literacy test was abolished and therefore ensured that the black voters were not discriminated. Therefore, the Civil Rights movement paved the way for the success of African American population. It forced the Americans to accept the black population as equal to the white population. (Walker et al 2007 pg 24-25) Indeed, the success of the movement was reflected by the fact that Cruel and unjust punishment of black people was abolished by the American Government.

Furthermore, American government strived