Fifty years later, what the Kerner report tells us about race in Chicago today: The Chicago Reporter

Events and speakers from GCI’s week-long series commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Kerner Report were highlighted in a piece by The Chicago Reporter on the Commission’s enduring findings.

Fifty years later, the findings from the Kerner report remain all too familiar. Compiling data on housing, employment, education, criminal justice, and health, the Institute of Research on Race and Public Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago issued a report recently that mapped out the conditions of the three largest racial and ethnic groups in Chicago today. A Tale of Three Cities: State of Racial Justice in Chicago Report found persistent, pervasive and consequential inequity on almost all key indicators.  Many of the racial dynamics in Chicago in 2018 are all too similar to those of 1968.

One of the article’s authors is Dr. Amanda Lewis, Director of the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy and a contributor to this week’s discussion on the enduring relevance of the Kerner Report’s findings.

Read the full story here. 

Reflections on the Kerner Report: Race and Inequality in the 1960s

In the aftermath of the 1967 urban ‘riots’, President Lyndon B. Johnson established the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, known as the Kerner Commission after its chair, Governor Otto Kerner, Jr. of Illinois. The 11-member commission examined the conditions of the cities that led to the turmoil and made recommendations addressing the underlying causes. The Commission’s report, released on February 29, 1968, marks a pivotal moment in the changing dynamics of U.S. cities and of critical analysis of the role of race as a division in America.

Part of a full week of activities on the 50th anniversary of the release of the Kerner Report from February 26 through March 2, see the full list here.

RSVP here for the March 1st keynote and panel discussion, The Kerner Report: 50 Years Later.

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Free event, no RSVP necessary. Light refreshments provided. This event will be live-streamed on our Facebook page.

For disability accommodations please contact Christiana Kinder, (312) 996-8700 or christia@uic.edu.

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The Reversal of the Chicago River: Bridging environmentalism and urban development

The second lecture in the Spring 2018 Real Time Chicago lecture series is ‘The Reversal of the Chicago River: bridging environmentalism and urban development’. The reversal of the Chicago River was as much of an engineering marvel as it was an early victory for environmentalists and public health advocates in the late 19th century. Richard Lanyon, the former Executive Director of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, will take us through the history of the reversal of the Chicago River and discuss its environmental and economic legacy on the Chicago region.

Richard Lanyon has had a life long association with the waterways in and around Chicago. He grew up along the North Branch, attended the University of Illinois Navy Pier campus, worked as a beginning engineer on the Lake Diversion legal controversy and capped his working life with a 48-year accomplishment with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District.

Richard retired from the MWRDGC as its Executive Director at the close of 2010. Currently, he is Chair of the Evanston Utility Commission, and working on a second book about the MWRDGC early in the 20th Century.

Senator Fred Harris visits GCI for Commemoration of 50 years since the Release of the #KernerReport

The famous quote from the Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (Kerner Report), “Our nation is moving toward two societies, one white, one black – separate and unequal,” made it clear:  racism was a determining factor in shaping the social and economic conditions that led to the widespread urban unrest in cities across the United States.

Despite the initial gains from the Commission’s recommendations on jobs, housing, segregation, policing, and social welfare, fifty years later, many of these conditions have not improved, and to a large extent, have worsened.  Global economic restructuring along with the decline of U.S. manufacturing led to the decline of jobs, residential segregation persisted, incarceration and mechanisms of social control accelerated and households experienced the stresses of poverty while social safety nets were cut. Today, these issues are as urgent as ever.

We have convened a series of events to commemorate the work of the Kerner Commission, not only to acknowledge its historical significance, but to use this opportunity to ensure that these issues are front and center in our discussions of urban policies as we continue our efforts for dignity and quality of life.

Our co-sponsors in these commemoration events include the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy (IRRPP), Department of African American Studies, and the Social Justice Initiative.

Our big event is on Thursday, March 1 from 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. at the Illinois Room, Student Center East, 750 S. Halsted.  There is a parking lot across the street that you enter from Taylor Street and there will be signs for the event once you enter the building.

Former U.S. Senator Fred Harris, sole remaining member of the Kerner Commission will give a keynote address followed by a panel discussion among Harris and esteemed panelists:  Timuel Black, Eugene “Gus” Newport, Gail Christopher, José López, Willie “JR” Fleming and Anthony Lowery.  You can go to this link to RSVP and to read more about these incredible people.

In addition, on Monday afternoon, February 27, here at Great Cities Institute, 412 S. Peoria St., we are hosting a panel discussion with three top scholars from UIC’s African American Studies.  Professors Jane Rhodes, Cedric Johnson, and Amanda Lewis will speak from 2:00 p.m.– 3:30 p.m. on Reflections on the Kerner Report: Race and Inequality in the 1960s.

Our documentary viewing on Tuesday, Revolution ’67 will show video and commentary from the unrest in Newark between July 12 – July 17, 1967 during “The long hot summer of 1967.” The film, released in 2007, was produced and directed by Marylou and Jerome Bongiorno.

On Wednesday, we are very proud to show a documentary, Soul of Justice:  Thelton Henderson’s American Journey.  Judge Henderson will win over your hearts when you see his journey as a young man when in 1962, he became the first African American attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department to being a Senior United States District Judge for the Northern District of California (now retired). Judge Henderson sends his regards.  You can read more about Thelton Henderson in the biography, Judge Thelton Henderson, Breaking New Ground by Richard B. Kuhns. Both documentary viewings are at the Institute.

On Friday morning, we are excited that Eugene “Gus” Newport will spend the morning with us in a session titled, Tales of a Human Rights Activist. Gus will have many tales to tell and years of experience and insights to share with us.  Gus started out as a young civil rights activist in Rochester, New York and over the years has been a mayor, an international ambassador for non-violence, a community economic and housing developer, and a consultant for disaster relief – among other roles. Gus is an all-around great guy and you will enjoy hearing his many stories and his continued efforts for human rights.

You can find a link to the PDF for the week’s events here.

The Reversal of the Chicago River: Bridging environmentalism and urban development

The second lecture in the Spring 2018 Real Time Chicago lecture series is ‘The Reversal of the Chicago River: bridging environmentalism and urban development’. The reversal of the Chicago River was as much of an engineering marvel as it was an early victory for environmentalists and public health advocates in the late 19th century. Richard Lanyon, the former Executive Director of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, will take us through the history of the reversal of the Chicago River and discuss its environmental and economic legacy on the Chicago region.

Richard Lanyon has had a life long association with the waterways in and around Chicago. He grew up along the North Branch, attended the University of Illinois Navy Pier campus, worked as a beginning engineer on the Lake Diversion legal controversy and capped his working life with a 48-year accomplishment with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District.

Richard retired from the MWRDGC as its Executive Director at the close of 2010. Currently, he is Chair of the Evanston Utility Commission, and working on a second book about the MWRDGC early in the 20th Century.

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Free event, no RSVP necessary. Light lunch provided. This event will be live-streamed on our Facebook page.

For disability accommodations please contact Christiana Kinder, (312) 996-8700 or christia@uic.edu.

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Upcoming Speaker Dr. Fred Harris Interviewed by Chicago Sun-Times on the Kerner Report

Dr. Fred Harris, the last remaining member of the Kerner Commission, will be speaking at UIC on March 1 to lead a panel discussion about the findings of the Kerner Report, published 50 years ago. He was interviewed by the Chicago Sun-Times on his experience as a Commission member.

“Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white — separate and unequal,” the Commission wrote in its summary. It was an accurate prediction.

The Kerner Report should have been a blueprint for developing a more egalitarian society. Instead, inaction has made the document little more than a political gesture.

“We made progress on virtually every aspect of race and poverty after the Kerner Report for about a decade,” Harris said. “Then we had automation and globalization and disappearing jobs. Conservatives cut taxes for rich people and cut programs that were for the benefit of middle-class, working-class and poor people and that’s what got us into this terrible mess.”

Join GCI on March 1 to commemorate the release of the 1968 Kerner Commission Report with the last remaining original member of the Commission, Dr. Fred Harris. Event information is available here.

 

Read the full Sun-Times piece here. 

The 50th Anniversary of The Kerner Commission Report – Relevant More Than Ever

Detroit, July 1967. Source: Lee Balterman—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

In an interview broadcast this morning on WGN Radio’s (720 AM) “The Opening Bell,” Teresa Córdova, director of the UIC Great Cities Institute, previewed the institute’s upcoming series commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Kerner Commission report on urban cities and reflected on the importance and relevance of the report today. Listen to the segment, which begins around the 5:00 mark, here. For more information on the event series being held Feb. 26 – Mar. 2, read our blog post on the week’s activities.

New Housing Calculator Tool Democratizes Real Estate Economics

The following is a guest blog post by  Stephanie Reyes, State and Local Policy Manager, Grounded Solutions Network

Communities across the country are exploring inclusionary housing policies, which either require or encourage private real estate developers to include a share of units affordable to lower-income residents in new market-rate buildings.

Inclusionary housing policies are only effective when they are developed with careful attention to the impact that they are likely to have on project economics. If the affordability requirements are set too high, the increased costs to a developer can make development financially infeasible. On the other hand, if jurisdictions are so concerned about potentially making development financially infeasible that they set affordability requirements too low, they miss out on an opportunity to create more desperately-needed affordable homes for lower-income households.

Unfortunately, most of the people—from local government staff to community stakeholders—who design and implement inclusionary housing programs have limited experience with the complexities of real estate development.  As a result, they may either impose unrealistic requirements or defer entirely to real estate professionals who sometimes have a financial incentive to overstate the potential negative effects.

On February 14, 2018, Grounded Solutions Network released its new Inclusionary Housing Calculator, a web-based tool that helps policymakers and other local policy stakeholders better understand the real estate economics that drive local housing policy choices. The updated tool builds on the success of the first Inclusionary Calculator which, since its launch in 2015, has helped advocates, developers, and policymakers comprehend the economics of inclusionary housing policies.

The Calculator measures the anticipated costs and revenues for a hypothetical development project and returns an estimate of profitability. Users can select from a set of pre-populated “templates” for market-rate residential developments at various density and market types. Additionally, users can adjust key variables like construction costs, rent/sales price, and how much affordable housing the project will provide to determine the potential financial viability of a given development type. The updated Calculator offers new features including an option to save and print work and an improved user interface which will enable an even larger number of new users to learn the fundamentals of inclusionary housing on an advanced platform.

“The power of a tool like this is that it levels the playing field so that a broader set of local stakeholders can engage constructively in discussions about what’s feasible,” said Rick Jacobus, a policy and housing consultant and a lead developer of the tool. “Better, more accessible and transparent local decision making is key as inclusionary housing programs continue to grow in number around the country.”

Several local and regional governments have used the Inclusionary Housing Calculator to learn the complexities of real estate development and the economic tradeoffs that are key to any inclusionary program.  As state and local policies become increasingly important for affordable housing development, the updated Calculator will empower even more advocates, developers, and policymakers to launch and steward effective inclusionary housing policies nationwide.

Parks, Plans, and Prejudice: The Environmental Politics of Outdoor Recreation

Beginning with a discussion of the origins and importance of the 1909 Plan of Chicago in terms of open space, Professor Platt will focus on the politics of environmental injustice in the spatial distribution of city parks (and park facilities, maintenance, staffing, etc) on the basis of race, ethnicity and class. This talk will cover the period from the World’s Fair of 1893 and the simultaneous Great Migration to Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Millennium Park.

This approach will allow Professor Platt to introduce the audience to a new generation of scholarship such as Colin Fishers’, Urban Green: Nature, Recreation, and the Working Class in Industrial Chicago (2015), and Michael D. Innis-Jimenez’s work on Mexican immigrants and recreation in South Chicago.

Harold L. Platt is Professor of History Emeritus at Loyola University Chicago. He is the author or editor of several books, including The Electric City: Energy and the Growth of the Chicago Area, Shock Cities: The Environmental Transformation and Reform of Manchester and Chicago, and Sinking Chicago: Climate Change and the Remaking of a Flood-Prone Environment. He has twice won the book-of-the-year award from the American Public Works Association.

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Free event, no RSVP necessary. Light lunch provided. This event will be live-streamed on our Facebook page.

For disability accommodations please contact Christiana Kinder, (312) 996-8700 or christia@uic.edu.

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