Each decade has its persona, an over-simplified caricature representing the era's overarching philosophy.
The 1950s was a time of conspicuous consumption, mass production and baby booming. In the '60s, a bell-bottomed generation revolted and embraced love and peace. The 1970s brought us disco and the '80s introduced leg warmers and a culture of yuppie power.
But what of the '90s? What is our legacy? In 20 or 30 or 100 years, as we glance back from the next millennium, what will we see?
In the 1990s, image is everything.
More than ever before, media-produced pictures and pop icons form the backdrop to our daily lives. Images from the Internet, the television and the highway billboard cascade around us and collect in our shared consciousness like puddles. With the proliferation of information-sharing technology, it seems that these images are everywhere-difficult to ignore, impossible to escape.
But in the midst of this deluge, there are certain images that stand out-pictures that speak volumes, capturing the mood and telling the story of the decade.
As Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat shook hands on the White House lawn, years of wartime rhetoric gave way to a dialogue of brotherhood. The Sept. 13, 1993 olive branch marked the beginning of a sustained effort for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Since then, there has been more blood, there have been more tears: Rabin was assassinated in 1995 by a Jewish extremist and several Palestinian suicide bombings rocked Israel the following spring.
But although the end of the decade has not yet brought a final peace, the image of this historic handshake symbolized at least the possibility of eventual understanding.
`I did not have sexual relations with that woman-Ms. Lewinsky.'
An American president found himself impeached and on the brink of conviction this decade, as Bill Clinton fought tooth and nail to retain his office, excavate himself from the adulterous quagmire of the Lewinsky scandal and find a coherent definition for the word "is."
But within the Senate chamber, the scandal did not focus on whether Clinton did, in fact, have sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern; the question instead centered on whether Clinton did, in fact, commit perjury in the Paula Jones trial. Beyond the tawdry details of thongs and cigars lay the deeper issue of character and the role personal behavior and morals play in public, political life.
As the impeachment saga progressed and several political figures-most notably Speaker-to-be Bob Livingston-found their political careers wrecked on the jagged rocks of adulterous affairs and moral transgressions, many began to wonder whether anyone would be able to withstand the level of scrutiny and muck-raking currently accompanying political life.
The '90s is a decade rife with concerns about sexual harassment in the workplace, like the behavior Jones alleged against Clinton. The hot-button issue was first brought to light during Anita Hill's testimony in the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court confirmation hearings in 1991.
The hearings set off a national debate about what constitutes harassment-in short, over who makes the rules. By the time the smoke had cleared, Thomas was seated on the bench, Hill had retreated into anonymity and anti-harassment policies became common in an increasingly politically correct workplace culture.
The Trial of the Century
It didn't fit, so they chose to acquit.
In October 1995, 12 jurors found football superstar O.J. Simpson not guilty of the brutal murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. The spectacle of the arrest and trial-complete with wealth, jealousy and ridiculously high-powered lawyers-captivated the nation, bringing CNN some of its highest ratings in history.
And then came the verdict. People gathered around televisions in malls and local restaurants. Blacks and whites stood together, perhaps a vision of the American integrationist ideal.
But those two little words, "not guilty," made the often-hidden racial divide startlingly clear. Blacks cheered. Whites stood in silent disbelief. The picture spoke volumes about the state of race relations in the country, and raised many questions about our system of justice.
This jury-induced rift was not the first of the decade, though. While the 1995 jury was accused of letting a guilty man go free because he was black, a April 1992 jury was attacked for letting guilty men go free because they were white.
The "not guilty" verdict for the officers tried for beating Rodney King sparked riots and widespread looting in Los Angeles and proved, once again, that all is not well between the races.
Oklahoma City bombing
In April 1995, the world gazed in horror at the hollowed-out shell of a building that was once the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. As rumors of Arab assailants and rented cars swirled on the airwaves, Americans were left to grapple with the horrific terrorist act that occurred on American soil.
When it turned out that the bomb had been planted by a blond American, the nation was left to grapple with the harsh reality that terrorist violence is not a foreign phenomenon.
The decade has been dominated by similarly violent outbursts of random violence. From Ted Kaczynski's anti-technology Unabomber to the shrapnel blast during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta to Columbine and the recent rash of school and workplace shootings, the nation has been forced to realize that random violence seems be a universal problem.
This realization has prompted many to turn the lens on American society, and what aspects-from Marilyn Manson to video games to rap music-could be responsible for the disturbing trend. School teachers and administrators, meanwhile, have cracked down on a wide variety of potentially harmful aspects of traditional high school life.
Many others, however, are left with the chilling sense that such violence springs up unexpectedly, unpreventably-and each shooting that makes headlines only makes the next incident more likely.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.