
Reckoning With Racial Violence (Some Sunay Context)
From This Day (An America 250 History Show) by Jody Avirgan & Radiotopia
May 31, 2026 · 24 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the Kerner Commission's findings on racial violence and unrest in America, particularly in Black and brown communities, following the Tulsa Massacre.
This past week, we talked about the Tulsa Massacre of 1921. For today's "Sunday Context" episode we jump a couple generations ahead to the summer of 1967, when president Johnson convened the “Kerner Commission” to look into the roots of violence and unrest in America, largely in Black and brown communities around the country. The report came out next year and offered a frank and damning assessment of the complicity of white Americans. But it's recommendations were largely ignored and suppresed. Featuring Jelani Cobb, author of an updated version, “ The Essential Kerner Commission Report ,” out now. Join our America250 newsletter community ! Subscribe for free to get the latest news and analysis of how America250 is playing out. Paying subscribers get access to early, ad-free versions of the show. Plus bonus features throughout the year. To support our work and get access to everything, subscribe now . This Day is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Your support helps foster independent, artist-owned podcasts and award-winning stories. If you want to support the show directly, you can do so on our website: ThisDayPod.com Get in touch if you have any ideas for future topics, or…
People in this episode
Host: Jody Avirgan
Guest: Jelani Cobb
Topics covered
- racial violence
- Kerner Commission
- Tulsa Massacre
- 1967 unrest
- Black communities
- historical analysis
Keywords
- racial violence
- Kerner Commission
- Tulsa Massacre
- 1967
- Jelani Cobb
- Black communities
- historical context
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Kerner Commission, Radiotopia, PRX
Books & works: The Essential Kerner Commission Report
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