Black Problems Are America’s--Quayle

High infant mortality and dropout rates among blacks are problems all America must work to overcome, Vice President Dan Quayle told the NAACP convention today.

Quayle spoke on the fourth day of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People’s annual convention in Detroit.

“If President George Bush were in the country, you know he would be speaking to you,” Quayle said. Bush is in Hungary today as part of his tour of Eastern Europe.

Quayle, who received a good reception from the NAACP’s leadership, said the Bush Administration is committed to promoting civil rights and the President has met several times with civil rights leaders.

He reviewed the history of the civil rights movement, and said, “Today, there is less bigotry than before, but there is still bigotry--and bigots.”

Quayle cited statistics indicating the social and economic disadvantage of blacks.

“Let us not forget that the black infant mortality rate is twice as high as for whites,” said Quayle, who also spoke of the disproportionately high dropout rate among young blacks.

“These are not just black problems, these are America’s problems,” Quayle said.