Midnight basketball was a 1990s initiative to curb inner-city crime in the United States by keeping urban youth off the streets and engaging them with alternatives to drugs and crime. The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...

In 1994, Bill Clinton pushed for an anti-crime bill that would lead to 100,000 more police officers as well as a number of programs intended to "deter crime where it starts" by providing "community activities like midnight basketball". [1] The plan was widely lampooned by conservatives such as House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich, who cited midnight basketball as an ineffective and wasteful use of federal funds.[2] Some, such as Rush Limbaugh, even called the proposal racist, given the largely African American populations targeted by the program. [3] However, midnight basketball was not a proposal unique to the Democrats— it was one of George H. W. Bush's "Thousand Points of Light". [4] 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... Seal of the House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives (or simply the House) is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress, the other being the Senate. ... The Minority Whip is a member of the minority party in the U.S. House of Representatives who assists the Minority Leader in coordinating the party caucus in its responses to legislation and other matters. ... Newton Leroy Gingrich (born 17 June 1943) served as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. ... Rush Hudson Limbaugh III (born January 12, 1951) is an American radio talk show host. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States; the other being the Republican Party. ... George Herbert Walker Bush GCB (born June 12, 1924) was the 41st President of the United States of America serving from 1989 to 1993. ...