Detailed Contextual Understanding

Detailed contextual understanding.

In The Heights is set in 1999 in Washington Heights, a neighbourhood in Manhattan.  At this time unemployment rate was at 3.6 white Americans and 8.2 for African Americans meaning discrimination was still high, but better than the previous 10 years. The characters in the show are of working class and all dream of what it would be like to be wealthy.

Bill Clinton made major promises to working-class people in order to get elected, including universal health care, a family medical leave act, and a striker replacement bill to prevent the permanent hiring of scabs during a strike. In the end, he broke virtually every major promise that he made to America’s workers. Robert Reich, Clinton’s first secretary, later revealed: “We essentially have collaborated with and responded to the business community.” This  collaboration with the business community meant that life in the 1990s would become increasingly difficult for working-class people in the United States.

1998 - Puerto Rican week established by mayor Guiliani.

Divorce rates in the United States had begun to grow sharply in the 1970s. By the 90s those rates were starting to drop. But there were millions of children living with only one parent, or with their grandparents. Single-parent families are more likely to be poor

In 1980, single-parent households represented about 20% of all households in the United States with children. By 1999 that number had reached 24% and was continuing to rise.

During the 1990s, personal computers became more and more a part of everyday life. And more and more people were going online over a network linking computers around the world. The Internet would grow into an easy way to send e-mail, find information and buy products over the World Wide Web. Music was also a big part of people’s lives. Rap, hip hop, R&B and dance music had well and truly been introduced and were very popular amoung younger people. – this is evident in the club scene and Usnavi raps a lot throughout the show.

May 3, 1999 - A series of tornadoes strikes Oklahoma, including an F5 category storm that slams Oklahoma City, killing thirty-eight.  The fastest wind speed ever recorded on earth is measured by scientists at 509 km (318 mph) during this tornado.  

November 30, 1999 - The first major mobilization of the anti-globalization movement occurs in Seattle, Washington, during the days before the 1999 World Trade Organization meetings. The protests and rioting caused the cancellation of the WTO opening ceremonies.