Race relations are a perpetual and prominent part of the American political and cultural conversation, and never more so than in the 1990s. Beginning with the unavoidable racial overtone of the Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill hearings, the ’90s saw a succession of individuals and events - Al Sharpton and the Crown Height riots, Rodney King and the LA riots, O.J. Simpson and his murder trial – that exposed how raw race relations in America remained. New York elected its first black mayor (David Dinkins) and Louisiana nearly elected a member of the Klu Klux Klan as governor (David Duke). LA street gangs exerted cultural influence over music, movies and fashion. Even two of President Clinton’s chief legislative achievements, The Crime Bill of 1994 and the Welfare Reform bill of 1996 were laden with racial politics. Progress was made in America’s struggle with racial equality but a price was paid.
The Nineties was broadcast on SBS ONE at Tuesday 30 June 2020, 05:00. This episode was initially placed on Sunday 26 November 2017.