Blacks and women should yearn for a stronger voice in government, a distinguished group of professors, journalists and politicians argued last night at a panel discussion.

The panel electrified 100 students of mixed backgrounds in a lively conversation in Emerson Hall sponsored by the Association of Black Radcliffe Women and the Black Students Association.

Billed as "A Discussion on Blacks and Women in the '96 Elections," the conversation included such topics as welfare reform, affirmative action and last year's Million Man March.

The panelists considered ways in which blacks and women could play a role in the political process in order to make the local and national governments more caring toward the poor and underprivileged.

The eight panelists were decidedly left-of-center, with the exception of Kenan Professor of Government Harvey C. Mansfield Jr. '53, who identified himself as a conservative hoping to "dismantle entitlements that cost too much and make people dependent on government."

In contrast, State Sen. Dianne Wilkerson (D-Boston) argued that "the only purpose of government is to collect and redistribute the wealth."

IOP Fellow Dorothy Gilliam, a Washington Post columnist, even went as far as to say, "I see welfare as an ideological war that is going on presently against people of color."

Other panelists included Professor of Afro-American Studies and Religion Cornel R. West '74; Professor of Government and Sociology Theda Skocpol; Professor of Law Randall Kennedy; Dubois Fellow Cheryl Greenberg; and Bunting Fellow Farah Griffin.

Much of the debate centered around Kennedy's assertion that the Million Man March was inappropriate.

The only way to achieve gains for blacks and women was for all races to work together in "transracial harmony," the law professor argued.

Kennedy associated his views with those of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and said people were black only because of an "accident of color."

Others, citing the present climate of race relations, saw Kennedy's views as impractical.

"He cheapened race," said Jante C. Santos '99. "He made it seem like a game."

Even Mansfield supported the Million Man March but denounced its controversial leader, Nation of Islam minister Louis Farrakhan.

"White men would never have done such a thing," he said. "There would be feminists who wouldn't let them."

Except for Mansfield, who plans to vote for Republican nominee Robert J. Dole, the panelists expressed luke-warm support for President Clinton, viewing him as the lesser of two evils.

"My goal in life before I leave this earth is to vote for a candidate I'm for," said Wilkerson, to audience applause