Sam Abramson
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Copyright Samuel M. Abramson April 14, 2017 Abstract A Struggle Unfinished: Riots, Race in America, and the Failures of the 1968 Kerner Commission By Sam Abramson This dissertation explores the life of the Kerner Commission—a task force founded by President Lyndon Johnson on the heels of riots across America—from its inception in the summer of 1967 to its aftermath in the spring of 1968. The dissertation examines the primary actors involved with the commission and seeks to explain why they arrived at the conclusions they did, how those who resisted along the way did so, why such conclusions fell on deaf ears, and how the report ultimately failed to accomplish its stated objectives. It argues that the Kerner Commission’s report—a comprehensive study on race in America and the causes of rioting that was unprecedented in its scale and particularly poignant in the afterglow of landmark civil rights legislation—was an inspired, unsparing document that failed for a number of reasons beyond its control, including a cold reception from the Johnson White House, a conservative Congress unwilling to spend due to partisan politics and the Vietnam War, a majority of white Americans believing that the report—in its twin calls for increased domestic spending and focused dialogue to amend white racial attitudes—was misguided, Johnson’s televised announcement that he would not seek reelection, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, among other reasons. This dissertation traces the trajectory of a lost opportunity to confront questions on race, rioting, and unfinished civil rights work in America that remain unanswered to this day. Acknowledgements I don’t have anything profound to say about the actual process of researching and writing a dissertation, I’m afraid. I have never defined myself by my work and I’m a firm believer that the people who’ve helped and whom I’ve met along the way—friends, family, colleagues, mentors—are what make life and its experiences rewarding. In that sense, this section is perhaps the most important part of this entire project to me. No matter how beautiful this campus is or how many brilliant minds it accommodates, the experience at Rice is nothing without the people that you know. When I visited on recruitment weekend seven years ago, I believed this department—the faculty and the students it attracts—were a good match for my interests and broader approach to history and life. I was right. I’m fearful of leaving someone out, because there are so many people to whom I owe thanks for where I am today. Rice faculty have been wonderful, encouraging mentors along the way. Thank you first and foremost to John Boles, this project’s main adviser and the man who first suggested I explore this as a research topic. Dr. Boles has believed in me—that I have something to say and the writing skills to say it—from the first seminar I had with him in coursework, and for that I am grateful. Thank you as well to my other committee members—Allen Matusow, Alex Byrd, and Michael Emerson— for their encouragement and constructive feedback on this project. I have had the pleasure of taking courses with both Dr. Matusow and Dr. Byrd; both are outstanding historians and teachers whose methods I’ve observed and tried to apply to my own teaching. While I do not know Dr. Emerson quite as well, his willingness to remain on my committee despite leaving Rice has been much appreciated and he’s been generous to make time for v this project in spite of his busy schedule in Chicago. Thank you to Dr. Salimah Khan at the Rice Counseling Center; Dr. Khan has been a wonderful mentor and friend over the last several years and has been instrumental in helping me navigate some difficult times. Thank you as well to other faculty with whom I had courses—Ed Cox, Alida Metcalf, Jim Sidbury, Caleb McDaniel, Carl Caldwell, John Zammito, and David Dow— for their patience with and feedback for a twentieth-century historian. At the Journal of Southern History, Randal Hall and Bethany Johnson were kind and always willing to help me in my role as an editorial assistant. Rice’s FWIS and CWOVC programs allowed me to cut my teeth as a graduate instructor; I’m grateful to the faculty and staff with whom I worked there, including Tracy Volz, Jennifer Shade Wilson, Dave Messmer, Elizabeth Festa, Shira Lander, Matthias Henze, and Emily Straus. Whether I TA’ed for them, had training sessions or seminars with them, or just needed to speak to them for advice, everyone in FWIS and at the CWOVC helped me as I tried to walk the line between teaching students and teaching myself how to teach. The positive feedback I’ve received from my FWIS students has indicated to me that I must be doing something right, so thank you to them as well. Being a FWIS TA and instructor has been one of my most rewarding experiences in my time at Rice. I could not have completed this project without the assistance of the staff at the Johnson Presidential Library in Austin. Thank you most notably to Allen Fisher, who was always willing to chat about the library’s holdings and potential items to consider on each visit. Thank you as well to every staff member who pulled boxes for me each morning and checked my laptop every afternoon. In April 2013, on my fourth visit to the archives, I realized that I was sharing the reading room with Robert Caro—the only person in the vi room in a suit and tie. By the end of the week, while he was on a break, eating a banana on the couch outside, I worked up the courage to go introduce myself and tell him about my project. He could not have been nicer, and when I showed him one particular piece of information, he asked for my address, so that he could perhaps contact me at a later date. It was both surreal and humbling for a Pulitzer Prize winner to ask for my contact information about a project, and it once again gave me a boost of confidence and indicated that this project was worthwhile. Thank you to Mr. Caro for the encouragement and the willingness to chat. I’d also like to thank several of my professors and mentors from both college and high school. These were the people who told me that I was capable of pursuing a career as a writer, as a historian, or as both, and I have not forgotten their contributions. At Emory University, Joseph Crespino, James Roark, Fraser Harbutt, Becky Herring, and Dana White were the best mentors that an undergraduate could ask for; when I defended my undergraduate thesis, my committee gave me the confidence to pursue this course. They told me I was on the right track, and if they said it, that was convincing enough for me. In the past six months, Dr. Harbutt and Dr. White have passed away; I wish I had gotten to speak to them again, just to let them know how much I enjoyed their classes and the profound impact that those classes and their words of encouragement had on me. Thank you as well to Maureen Morehead and Sue Collesano, two of my English teachers in high school who could’ve taught anywhere, at any level, in America. They encouraged me as a writer, but they were never afraid to push back, either; constructive criticism— not just telling me what I did well—was a valuable thing at such an early age, and let me vii know that I should never be complacent when it came to the process of writing. I hope that with this project, I have made all of these mentors proud. Thank you to the many Rice graduate students I’ve met in my time here. When I began in the fall of 2010, there were nine students in my class; by the end of coursework, only four remained. John Marks, Kelly Weber Stefonowich, and Lauren Brand have all successfully defended their dissertations, so I’m the only one left. Whitney Stewart was not technically in my class, but given that she took courses with us in another department that first year, it feels like she is part of our class as well. John was my best friend in this program and someone I always knew I could watch a game or talk about anything other than history with when the moment presented itself. John, Kelly, Lauren, and Whitney were wonderful, intelligent, talented, hardworking colleagues who will be successful in whatever they do going forward. Thank you as well to the twentieth-century students in the department; there aren’t many of us, but Andrew Baker and Edwin Breeden were always generous with their time and willing to listen to me ramble about my topic or whatever else was on my mind. Andrew was never afraid to challenge me and tell me to just finish the dissertation already, and Edwin was always able to point me to potential sources that might help my research. Both of these men are two of the most brilliant people to ever come through this department. I just hoped that in my interactions with them, a little of that rubbed off on me. My colleagues in the classes above me—Ben Wright, Joe Locke, Jim Wainwright, Andy Lang, Carl Paulus, Sarah Paulus, Drew Bledsoe, Blaine Hamilton, Uzma Quraishi, Allison Madar, among others—were fun to hang out with and always willing to offer professional advice.