Mccone Commission, The

Anders Walker

In the late summer of 1965, a predominantly black neighborhood of Los Angeles known as Watts descended into 6 days of massive rioting. California Governor Edmund “Pat” Brown, reeling from the political impact of the unrest, tapped John A. McCone, former director of the CIA and a well-known conservative, to conduct an impartial study of the unrest. McCone proceeded to lead a commission—the McCone Commission, which was made up of six whites and two African Americans, as well as a support staff of 29 assistants, 16 clerks and secretaries, and 26 consultants—through a series of hearings, interviews, and studies. This process was designed to provide descriptive and chronological information about the riots as well as to give recommendations to prevent their recurrence. After 3 months, and after questioning more than 10,000 people, the McCone Commission released a report, Violence in the City—An End or a Beginning? that summarized the According ...

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