I. INTRODUCTION
The Politics of Riot Commissions, 1917-1970: An Overview / Anthony Platt
II. EAST ST. LOUIS, 1917
Report of the Special Committee Authorized by Congress to Investigate the East St. Louis Riots / Ben Johnson, John E. Raker, M. D. Foster, and Henry Allen Cooper
Race Riot at East St. Louis, July 2, 1917
III. CHICAGO, 1919
The Negro in Chicago: A Study of Race Relations and a Race Riot / The Chicago Commission on Race Relations
Chicago: The Riot Studied / Arthur I. Waskow
IV. NEW YORK, 1935
The Negro in Harlem: A Report on Social and Economic Conditions Responsible for the Outbreak of March 19, 1935 / The Mayor's Commission on Conditions in Harlem
Harlem: Dark Weather-Vane / Alain Locke
V. DETROIT, 1943
Final Report of Governor's Committee to Investigate Riot Occuring in Detroit, June 21, 1943 / Herbert J. Rushton, William E. Dowling, Oscar Olander, and John H. Witherspoon
Race Riot / Alfred McClung Lee and Norman D. Humphrey
VI. LOS ANGELES, 1965
Violence in the City - An End or Beginning? / Governor's Commission on the Los Angeles Riots
The MC Cone Commission / Paul Jacobs
White on Black: A Critique of the MC Cone Commission Report / Robert M. Fogelson
Postscript to the MC Cone Commission / Paul Jacobs
VII. U.S.A., 1968
The Kerner Report / National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders
White on Black: The Riot Commission and the Rhetoric of Reform / Andrew Kopkind
VIII. U.S.A., 1969
To Establish Justice, to Insure Domestic Tranquility / National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence
Violence and Ideology: A Critique of the Final Report of the Violence Commission / Elliott Currie
IX. U.S.A., 1970
The Scranton Report / The President's Commission on Campus Unrest
The Killings at Jackson State / The President's Commission on Campus Unrest
Epilogue.