Giving Compass' Take:

• Brookings Institute examines the state of race relations in this country one year after the Charlottesville riots between white supremacists and anti-fascist protestors. The author advocates for a new version of the Kerner Commission, which set the political agenda to address racial strife in the 1960s.

• New Kerner or not, what role can philanthropy play in urging policymakers to bridge the divides in this nation and advance racial equality? 

• Here's how nonprofits failed Charlottesville and what we can learn now.

A year after the Charlottesville riots, racialized political platforms, vitriolic rhetoric, racist micro-aggressions and rollbacks on Obama-era public policies are furthering the disenfranchisement and alienation of people of color in America. And among this flurry of activity, one must wonder if the U.S. is avoiding a refreshed assessment of racial inequality and the systemic variables, such as the wealth gap, predatory lending and policing, and unequal housing and workforce opportunities that flow from such conditions.

As we reflect on that dreadful day of the Charlottesville riots, this review of the nation’s integrity around race is long overdue. Moreover, an exercise toward racial healing, much like the Kerner Report in the 1960s, might also encourage Congress to set a political agenda that underscores the importance of more constructive race relations in the age of Trump. To summarize the words of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in one of his many prophetic books, “[i]n the days ahead, we must not consider it unpatriotic to raise certain questions about our national character.”

Read the full article about looking for a new Kerner Commission one year after Charlottesville by Nicol Turner-Lee at Brookings.