Marin County

Kerner Report Set Standard for What a Serious Presidential Candidate Should Champion

Published

4 years ago

February 20, 2020

As the Democratic presidential primaries move onto Nevada, South Carolina and the many Super Tuesday states, candidates turn their attention to people of color, and particularly African Americans.

Many candidates find their rhetoric contradicted by their record; their promises conflicting with their performances.

Donald Trump now seeks to woo Black voters by taking credit for the economy, by touting the first steps in reducing mass incarceration, and by hyping so-called “opportunity zones.”

His history—rising to prominence with the vile racist campaign about whether Barack Obama is American, embracing the Nazis at Charlottesville, dedicating his administration to erasing all things Obama, framing his political appeal on race-bait politics—gives the lie to his histrionics.

The same occurs on the Democratic side.

Pete Buttigieg always sounds good, but African American leaders in his town excoriate his record as mayor on race and policing. Amy Klobuchar runs as a moderate, but her brutal record as a prosecutor limits her appeal. Mike Bloomberg has the resources to flood the zone, but he too struggles to explain his harsh, racially-biased stop-and-frisk policies as mayor of New York or his laughable embrace of right-wing nutcase theories that somehow anti-redlining policies triggered the financial crisis.

Bloomberg is joined by Joe Biden on what seems like an endless apology tour.

African American voters are not easily fooled. They have a clear agenda. They suffer structural inequality—more unemployment than whites, lower wages, worse jobs, worse schools, inadequate health care, unaffordable housing, unsafe neighborhoods befouled by pollution and poisons, inadequate childcare, lack of recreational facilities, and the outrages of a criminal justice system that is structurally biased against them. They want what most Americans want, and they have a trained eye about politicians.

Notably absent from the debate is a leader prepared to be as bold and as serious about the challenges facing African Americans as the Kerner Commission was 22 years ago. The commission, chaired by Illinois Gov. Otto Kerner, was created by President Lyndon Johnson in the wake of the devastating urban riots of the late ‘60s. It included leaders from both major parties, as well as representatives of labor, the police, business and civil rights groups.

It became famous for its stark warning: “Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal.”

Dr. Martin Luther King pronounced the report a “physician’s warning of approaching death, with a prescription for life.” In many ways, it was the last attempt to address honestly and seriously the structural inequalities that plague African Americans.

It told harsh truths: “What white Americans have never fully understood but what the Negro can never forget—is that white society is deeply implicated in the ghetto. White institutions created it, white institutions maintain it, and white society condones it.” It concluded that one main cause of the urban violence was white racism that left too many young African Americans without hope.

It offered not nostrums and pablum but a serious agenda to redress the maladies: new jobs, new housing, an end to de facto segregation, integration of schools, daycare for children, higher wages or income supplementation, greater services, and more diverse and sensitive police forces. It did not blink at the billions that this would cost, suggesting that the cost of not acting would be far greater.

The Kerner Report—and Johnson’s War on Poverty—was lost in the jungles of Vietnam.

The costs of that misbegotten war—in money, in lives and agony, and in political upheaval—torpedoed any serious effort to address our problems at home.

What the Kerner Report did leave was a marker: a measure of what it means to be serious in addressing the problems of our society.

Much has changed over the last half-century, yet too much is the same. Affirmative action has opened closed doors for some people of color. America is more diverse, yet still deeply divided. De facto residential segregation has been largely sustained. Inequality has grown more extreme. Schools are even more divided by class and race. Affordable housing is even less available. Structural racism still stains our criminal justice system.

So, as the politicians come campaigning for African American votes, they will get a hearing.

We appreciate the attention and gestures. But the Kerner Report set the standard for what a serious leader would champion.

We’ll see who comes close, if anyone does, to accepting that challenge.

Saskia Hatvany

Posts by Saskia Hatvany

Art

Marin County: A Snapshot of California’s Black History Is on Display

The Marin County Office of Education, located at 1111 Las Gallinas Ave in San Rafael, will host the extraordinary exhibit, “The Legacy of Marin City: A California Black History Story (1942-1960),” from Feb. 1 to May 31, 2024. The interactive, historical, and immersive exhibit featuring memorabilia from Black shipyard workers who migrated from the South to the West Coast to work at the Marinship shipyard will provide an enriching experience for students and school staff. Community organizations will also be invited to tour the exhibit.

Published

1 week ago

April 16, 2024

Oakland Post

Early photo of Marin City in the exhibit showing the first department store, barber shop, and liquor store. (Photo by Godfrey Lee)

By Post Staff

The interactive, historical, and immersive exhibit featuring memorabilia from Black shipyard workers who migrated from the South to the West Coast to work at the Marinship shipyard will provide an enriching experience for students and school staff. Community organizations will also be invited to tour the exhibit.

All will have the opportunity to visit and be guided by its curator Felecia Gaston.

The exhibit will include photographs, articles and artifacts about the Black experience in Marin City from 1942 to 1960 from the Felecia Gaston Collection, the Anne T. Kent California Room Collection, The Ruth Marion and Pirkle Jones Collection, The Bancroft Library, and the Daniel Ruark Collection.

It also features contemporary original artwork by Chuck D of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group Public Enemy, clay sculptures by San Francisco-based artist Kaytea Petro, and art pieces made by Marin City youth in collaboration with Lynn Sondag, Associate Professor of Art at Dominican University of California.

The exhibit explores how Marin City residents endured housing inequities over the years and captures the history of plans to remove Black residents from the area after World War II. Throughout, it embodies the spirit of survival and endurance that emboldened the people who made Marin City home.

Felecia Gaston is the author of the commemorative book, ‘A Brand New Start…This is Home: The Story of World War II Marinship and the Legacy of Marin City.’ Thanks to the generous contribution of benefactors, a set of Felecia’s book will be placed in every public elementary, middle, and high school library in Marin.

In addition, educators and librarians at each school will have the opportunity to engage with Felecia in a review of best practices for utilizing the valuable primary sources within the book.

“Our goal is to provide students with the opportunity to learn from these significant and historical contributions to Marin County, California, and the United States,” said John Carroll, Marin County Superintendent of Schools.

“By engaging with Felecia’s book and then visiting the exhibit, students will be able to further connect their knowledge and gain a deeper understanding of this significant historical period,” Carroll continued.

Felecia Gaston adds, “The Marin County Office of Education’s decision to bring the Marin City Historical Traveling Exhibit and publication, ‘A Brand New Start…This is Home’ to young students is intentional and plays a substantial role in the educational world. It is imperative that our community knows the contributions of Marin City Black residents to Marin County. Our youth are best placed to lead this transformation.”

The Marin County Office of Education will host an Open House Reception of the exhibit’s debut on Feb. 1 from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.. All school staff, educators, librarians, and community members are encouraged to attend to preview the exhibit and connect with Felecia Gaston. To contact Gaston, email MarinCityLegacy@marinschools.org

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Bay Area

New Marin County HHS Director Brings Breadth of Bay Area Experience

On Feb. 20, Dr. Lisa Warhuus, a psychologist with over 25 years of social services experience, will take over as Marin County’s new Director of Health and Human Services. She replaces Dr. Benita McLaren, who retired in December 2023.

Published

3 months ago

January 23, 2024

Oakland Post

(File Photo) On Feb. 20, Dr. Lisa Warhuus will take over as Marin County’s new Director of Health and Human Services.

By Oakland Press Staff

On Feb. 20, Dr. Lisa Warhuus, a psychologist with over 25 years of social services experience, will take over as Marin County’s new Director of Health and Human Services.

She replaces Dr. Benita McLaren, who retired in December 2023.

“We feel very fortunate to have someone with Dr. Warhuus’ skills and ability join our executive team,” said Marin County Executive Matthew Hymel.

“Throughout her career, Dr. Warhuus has demonstrated an ability to bring stakeholders together to effectively address our most complex community challenges,” Hymel continued.

With the County of Marin, Dr. Warhuus will lead a team of over 800 full-time equivalent staff positions and manage an annual budget of $258 million.

Her annual salary will be $288,433 with benefits consistent with those received by other department heads.

Most recently, Warhuus served as the Director of Health, Housing, and Community Services for the City of Berkeley. In that role, she oversaw a budget of more than $100 million and more than 200 employees across various divisions, including Public Health, Mental Health, Environmental Health, Housing and Community Services, and Aging Services.

“It is a true honor to have been selected for this important position. I cannot wait to get to know the incredible community of Marin County and to collaborate with the dedicated team within the Department of Health and Human Services,” said Warhuus.

Before working for the City of Berkeley, Warhuus served as Director of Children and Youth Initiatives at the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency. Before that, she was an Associate Director. In that role, she “managed and cultivated partnerships that helped expand mental health programs in multiple school districts. She also championed culturally responsive health and wellness services that aimed to support vulnerable populations,” according to a Marin County press release.

For Berkeley, “Warhuus was also a vital member of the Senior Executive Team providing counsel to the City Manager, Mayor, City Council, and the public on matters pertaining to health and housing,” the press release continued. “Notably, she played a key role in initiatives such as the City’s response to COVID-19, contributing to the citywide emergency efforts, and spearheading the development of a 24/7 mobile crisis response for individuals facing mental health and/or substance use crises.”

Warhuus earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from UC Berkeley and master’s and doctoral degrees from Aarhus University in Denmark.