Critics See a Reagan Legacy Tainted by AIDS, Civil Rights and Union Policies
By ROBIN TONER and ROBERT PEAR

WASHINGTON, June 8 - Despite Ronald Reagan's personal popularity, his domestic agenda was in many ways bitterly polarizing. Then, as now, conservatives hailed his tax cuts, his stirring defense of traditional values and his commitment to getting government "off the backs" of the American people.

But many liberals and progressives see his domestic legacy very differently, particularly on AIDS, civil rights, reproductive rights and poverty. Though clearly sympathetic to Mr. Reagan's family, they are still angry over his policies, which they assert reflected the unbridled influence of social conservatives.