Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 4 January 1992 — Page 2

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1991 The Year in Review

From war to peace to the end qf the Tburgood Marshall and WUttam Hudnut eras, 1991 was a year of change and transition. The following stories were selected as the top news stories of 1991 hy The Recorder editors and stuff.

The Persian Gulf War. The United States and allied countries began building up forces in the Middle East only days after Iraq invaded Kuwait on Aug. 2,1990. African-American soldiers, led by Gen. Colin Powell, were an integral part of the buildup. On Jan. 16, one day after the United Nations-set deadline, the allied forces stnick with a massive air attack on Iraq and Kuwait. Left almost defenseless by the vastly superior allied forces, Iraq was barely able to slow the allied campaign. Only 43 days after it began, it was over. Kuwait was liberated — although almost destroyed. Saddam Hussein was still in power and perhaps as many as200,000Iraqis were dead. But America had “kicked the Vietnam syndrome," in the words of President Bush, and U.S. forces suffered only 247 casualties. Or. Shirt Gilbert selected as IPS Superintendent. Exactly 62 years after Martin Luther King’s birth, the Indianapolis Public Schools moved to the front of the bus by selecting an African-American educator, Dr. Shirt E. Gilbert II, as its superintendent. The 4-3 vote by the school board fell along racial lines in namingOilbert, but the former deputy superintendent went straight to work,instituting innovativeprograms geared toward making IPS, in his now-famous motto, "a world-class school system." He tackled the issue of violence in the schools by conducting Dr. Shirt E. Gllbari II random weapon searches. He promised to improve the quality of education in IPS schools. Not everyone agreed with Oilbert, but even his opponents concede that IPS will be forever impacted by his term in office. The Rodney King beating. A bystander with a video camera captured one of the most compelling pieces of footage in years: a group of Los Angeles policemen, in the styleof Hitler’sGestapo, mercilessly beating a black man. The tape, broadcast worldwide on TV, raised the issue of police brutality in a way no one could ignore. Hie officers were charged with assault, LAPD Chief Darryl Gates offered to resign and the U.S. Justice Department began a nationwide investigation of the issue. Never again could the issue be swept under the rug.

Othur Significant Storias of 1991c ■ IPD Patrolman Scott Haaiar, connected with , Leonard Barnett caae, given award (March) ■ NCAA Final Four held In city (March) ■ IPS threatene to lay off teachera (Aprll-Juiy) ■ Prominent buelneaeman Bill Henry, an Indlanapolla pioneer, dlea (April) ■ Winnie Mandela aentenced In kidnaping caae (April) ■ Fort Haniaon Finance Center to cloae (May) ■ State Rep. Joe Summera, a champion of the African-American people, dlea (June) ■ The formation of LYNX, the flrat MESBIC In the hletory of the etate (Summer) ■ Weetvllle prleonera go on atrlke; Lockdown at Pendleton Reformatory (Fall) ■ David Duke loeea one election, plana presidential bid (November) ■ NAACP holds police brutality hearings in city (December)

Willy T. Ribbs qualifies for the Indy 500. The world of professional sports is still a wWtcs-only chib in mmy areas. And for 75 yean, the Indianapolis 500, "the greatest spectacle in racing "has been as segregated as the black-and-white squares on the checkered flag. That is, until the incredible Willy T. Ribbs came on the scene. Woefully underfinanced and written off by racing experts, Ribbs made it into the Indy 500 field, breaking the color barrier in the

Tha Top 10 Nows Storios of 1991 (la tkroaologfcal ordar)

January

15 — Dr. Sbiri I. Btibart II stlarttd as IPS sapsriatsadaat 16 — Tha OvH War baglas

March

3 — Ths Rodasy Klag haattag la las Aagatss ”225E 19 —IdmaiidfeiMlItCaHag^^^^^^^^^^ ■apraraaparamri 19 — NHmTytsa atcasad aff ladlaaapalls rapa

S — Slava OaMsmltli alattad ladlaRapalls mayor 16 — larvla Jokasaa lasts pasIHva far HIV vlras

December

21 — Jamas D. Talar aomad as lily's first Math polka thiol

Tho Claronto Thomas/Anita Hill

hoarings.

Wm It a "high-tech lynching" or wm UscsN of sexual harassment? The U.S. Senate seemed to believe the former and voted S24S to make Judge Qarence Thomas the second African-American to sit on the bench of the Supreme Court Much of the nation watched the testimony and debated endkialy on whether Thomas had sexually harassed Hill, his fbimer aide. But Justice Tho-

mas, the heir to the great legacy left by Anlts Hill (above) Thurgood Marshall, now sits on the Judge Clarence court. Thomas

same way Jackie Robinson had done almost half acentury before in baseball. Although he finished 32nd, Ribbs promised to be back In 1992. However, despite an excellent racing season, he is still finding it hard to gain corporate sponsorships for 1992 ~ a sign that the times have not yet completely changed in auto racing. Willy T.Rlbba: first Mack In ths Indy 800

Ths family of Emund Powell

Slava Goldfmith alattad Indianapolis mayor. For 16 yean, Mayor William Hudnuthasled Indianapolis—and is credited with much of the city's progress in that time. But when he declined to run for a fifth time, the heir apparent was Stove Goldsmith, the former Marion County proaecutor. In what was seen as an election filled with negative advertsing, Goldsmith won in a landslide over Democratsgpuli Mahem, New Alliance candidate Mary Catherine Barton anff as a write-in candidate, the Rev. Wayne T. Harris, Although he won only a small percentage of the vote, Harris' candidacy wu living proof of the emerging political clout of the AfricanAmerican community of Indianapolis.

Mayor William Hudnut Mayor Steve Goldsmith

The Edmund Powell/ Earvin Johnson Wayne Sharp affair. and the HIV virus. The memories of the Rodney King beating and the still-myiterious Just as people remember where 1987 death of Michael Taylor were rekindled In June, when Edmund they were when John F. Kennedy and Powell, a black man accused of shoplifting clothing from a Far- ManlnLutherKIngwereihot,people Southslde department store, was shot and killed by an Indianapolis will remember where they were when Police Department officer. The shock at the death wu soon replaced by they heard that Earvin Johnson had outrage in the minds of many when It was discovered that IPD contracted the virus that causes AIDS. Patrolman Wayne Sharp had ties with neo-Nazi groups and had (hie of the NBA's greatest players previously shot and killed another Mack crime suspect. Marches were ev « r < be tackled the Issue with his held and demands were made that Sharp and Police Chief Paul Annee characteristic class and style and said resign. However, by year's end, Sharp had been cleared!^ a grand jury be would beat the disease. He alio of any crimes. Immedisteiybecametheworid'slesd-

t~zx

t 4 % b * f

I

Ing spokesman on prevention of laivln "Maglo" Johnson AIDS. There may never be another Magic Johnson, but the original model is still here with us and still

fighting.

Jamas D. Tolar namad as dty's first black pollca chiaf.

Mike Tyson accused of rape. At this point, only these facu are dear Mike Tyson arrived in Indianapolis in mid-July. On July 18, Tyson met and was photographed with several beauty pageant contestants. On July 19, a pageant contestam told police she was raped by Tyson. Tyson, the former heavyweight boxing champion and one of boxing’a all-time greats, wu indicted by a grand jury later in the year. Tyson uys he is not guilty and will be found not guilty. His trial, at which the real truth will be sought, begins later this month.

Mire Tyson

The exhaustive search to find Indianapolis’ next police chief ended with Mayor-elect Stephen Goldsmith's announcement that IPD Major James D. Toler will officially head the 1,372-em-ployee department. A 28-year IPD veteran, Toler Is the flm African American to be named city police chief. Goldsmith said Toler’s appointment signals an snd to the perceived "old boy" network of IPD snd Is t step towards cresting "the new Indianapolis PDMcs Department" many have called for — I deportment tfm is responsive to both die concerns of police officers and the community.