This 1968 column finds Bayard Rustin examining the findings of the Kerner Commission Report and its analysis of racial inequality in America. Drawing attention to disparities in employment, housing, healthcare, and policing, Rustin argues that systemic racism creates the conditions that produce poverty and social unrest. He ultimately supports stronger federal action and calls for structural reforms aimed at addressing the roots of inequality.
The Negro and Non-Violence
In this article published in Fellowship, Bayard Rustin warns that racial violence during World War II threatens to deepen divisions across the United States. He calls on pacifists to move beyond abstract advocacy and organize nonviolent direct action against Jim Crow, arguing that confronting racial injustice at home is essential to building lasting peace.
Non-Violence vs. Jim Crow (Parts I and II)
In these two reports published in Fellowship magazine, Bayard Rustin recounts his experiences confronting racial segregation through nonviolent direct action in the American South and Mid-Atlantic. From refusing segregated bus seating to challenging discriminatory beach and taxi practices, Rustin illustrates how disciplined noncooperation could expose injustice and challenge Jim Crow.
