Accusing President Clinton of shying away from his responsibility to the black community, a panel of nine journalists at the ARCO Forum last night discussed where to place the blame for the continued racial divide that exists in America.

"The President has not shown courage up to this point on race," said panelist Lewis Divguid, a columnist for the Kansas City Star, to an audience of approximately 300 people. The event entitled "Can Clinton Create a Constructive Dialogue on Race and Activism Against Racism?," was moderated by Professor of Law Charles J. Ogletree.

Ogletree asked the panelists to explain their almost uniformly negative stance on Clinton in their columns.

Les Payne said that Clinton's apparent indifference to the Geronimo Pratt case demonstrated his lack of true commitment to black America.

Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt, former Black Panther, was released last spring after being imprisoned for 25 years for murder. Many believe that Pratt held as a political prisoner.

"[Clinton] should realize that [the Pratt case] is a massive problem that deserves his attention," Payne said.

Divguid said that the Pratt case points to the larger issue of U.S. prison expansion and conditions.

"We're building more and more prisons for more and more people for things that shouldn't have happened," Divguid said.

If Clinton has defaulted on such important issues, Ogletree asked, then why do his opinion polls continue to rise?

Adrienne Washington of The Washington Times replied that Clinton's support rests on "feel good" issues.

"The problem with this President is he's more symbolic than he is substantive," Washington said.

Vernon Jarret, a retired Chicago Sun Times columnist added that although Clinton may be less than an ideal figure, he's more sympathetic to the issues the black community finds important than many other leaders.

"We are in a position where we have to walk a tightrope between a disaster on one side and near disaster on the other," Jarret said.

However, Betty Baye, who writes for the Louisville Courier Journal, said she fears that Clinton's stance is too malleable.

Because Clinton has raised the expectations of the black community by promising to address its concerns, it is his duty to move on the issue, according to Baye.