Professors Cornel West and William Julius Wilson spoke in favor of progressive political movements last night at the Hasty Pudding Theater. They were greeted with nods and comments of approval from the audience.

"Now is the time," said Wilson, the Malcolm Wiener Professor of Social Policy. "We must build a multi-racial reform coalition to bring groups together."

Wilson spoke of growing economic disparity and racial tensions in recent years, pointing to Rodney King and other incidents of racial conflict.

He urged political cooperation across class lines to combat these trends, drawing on the themes of his new book The Bridge Over the Racial Divide: Rising Inequality and Coalition Politics.

West, like Wilson, urged his listeners to face the problems plaguing America.

"America is a democratic experiment often unwilling to acknowledge its dark side," said West, who is Alphonse Fletcher Jr.University Professor of African-American Studies. "The future depends on our ability to candidly confront social problems of poverty and low quality of life."

A newly published collection of West's works from the last 17 years, The Cornel West Reader, delves into this issue of "what it takes to live courageously in the face of death, disease, and despair," he said.

At times, West's plans for equality and interdependence coincided perfectly with Wilson's.

But Wilson and West, seated facing each other on the stage, presented their visions in very different ways.

Wilson described in some detail his conception of a multiracial political constituency, citing psychological research on interdependence.

West plunged into broad questions of what it is to be human, modern and American, expressing his vision of the "lives of everyday people shot through with a majestic, powerful spirit just as the lives of the elite are."

Dan V. Hamilton, an audience member, said that he "expected West to be more inspirational and expansive, and Wilson to be more of a social scientist." His expectations were fulfilled. "Wilson has some nuts and bolts," he said, "but West gets you thinking big thoughts."

Wilson will speak again tomorrow night on the question of "Can America Bridge the Racial Divide?" at a panel at the Kennedy School.