An 11- member bipartisan commission created by President Lyndon B. Johnson in July 1967 to advise his administration following race riots that had erupted in cities across the United States. In March 1968, the Kerner Commission reported that the United States was "moving toward two societies, one black, one white separate and unequal," and it recommended massive government intervention against unemployment, poor housing and poverty. The commission was chaired by Governor Otto Kerner of Illinois.

Created in 1967 to study issues of race relations; found that hostility between the police and ghetto communities was a major cause for disorder. Officially known as the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders.

After the various uprisings in 1967, President Johnson set up this committee to study the race problems in America. They came to the conclusion that America was moving toward becoming two nations, black and white. Although the official title was the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, the popular name came from the chairman, Otto Kerner.