The Nineties Were The Decade Of Unrest

People like to remember the nineties as the time when we created such wondrous things such as the internet and affordable computers. As society changed, we also faced unrest that darkened the shining light of technological accomplishment. In the United States, blood was being shed because of this unrest, as in other places. Although we took away much from that decade, there is no denying that the nineties were the decade of unrest.

As the long lasting Cold War finally drew to an end with the fall of Communism, other problems and issues came into light. In 1992, riots began in Las Angeles over the acquittal of four police officers, three white and one Hispanic, by an all-white jury in a police brutality case involving a motorist by the name of Rodney King. The riot caused 53 deaths and 5,500 fires. Also in 1992, hurricane Andrew struck Florida, killing many and causing millions in damage. The World Trade Center was bombed in February 1993 by an explosive-filled van. In that same month, four agents of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms were killed during an unsuccessful raid, which became known as the Waco Massacre. In September of 1994, the United States sent troops to overthrow a Haitian dictatorship. 1995 brought about the trial of O. J. Simpson, who was accused of his ex-wife and her friend. He was declared not-guilty, though many believed that he was in fact responsible for the murders. Before that particular verdict was ever passed, however, on April 19, 1995, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed. The bombing killed over a hundred people, fifteen of which were school children.

The latter half of the nineties was no less violent. In the months between February 1996 and April 1999 there were at least fourteen incidents of school shootings, the most infamous and lethal being on April 20, 1999. Before the day was over, fourteen students and one teacher were killed, along with twenty-three others being wounded at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. In other news, United States President Bill Clinton became involved in a sex scandal in 1998. His impeachment trial lasted an