The Nation - News from May 6, 1988

The National Urban League blamed the Reagan Administration for having deepened the problems of the poor and called for a new domestic policy debate over the proper role of the federal government. Urban League President John Jacob accused the Administration at a Washington news conference of attitudes ranging from “outright hostility to indifference” and said its philosophy of a sharply limited role for the federal government is “dead wrong.” Jacob released a 90-page report, “Black Americans and Public Policy,” which he said is a policy proposal to counter “those who give us retrogressive policies that make black people poorer and close off access to opportunities.” Jacob said neither Vice President George Bush nor Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis--the likely presidential candidates of the two major parties--should write off the black vote or take it for granted, adding that he believed the presidency could turn on that bloc.