Lessons from the Kerner Commission for Today’s America
Date: Wednesday, February 18, 2026Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location: Virtual by Zoom
Alan Curtis, Ph.D., president of the Milton Eisenhower Foundation, will discuss the foundation’s new update of the landmark 1968 bipartisan Kerner Commission during a virtual talk on Wednesday, Feb. 18. The conversation will be moderated by Nakeina E. Douglas-Glenn, Ph.D., director of the Research Institute for Social Equity at the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs.
Although the original commission—convened in the wake of more than 150 urban uprisings—was largely composed of privileged white men, it reached a striking conclusion: that white racism was a central driver of civil unrest in the United States. Curtis will explore how the foundation’s updated work, Creating Justice, builds on the Kerner legacy by presenting evidence-based policy solutions in economic opportunity, education, criminal justice, housing and public health. The discussion will also address the “new will” strategies needed to scale what works during a period of deep national division.