California Democrat Urges Citizens to Act

Citizens must take an active role in defining public policy if they hope to solve society's problems, warned the speaker of the California State Assembly in a speech at the Kennedy School on Saturday.

"No matter what side we are on, I suggest we should engage in a dialogue to define public policy. We must raise the level of public dialogue and public policy," said Willie Brown, the Democrat who has served as California's speaker for a record 15 consecutive years.

Brown criticized conservatives, whom he accused of trying to stifle debate on important national issues such as the cause of the April 19 bombing of a federal government office building in Oklahoma City.

"What has allowed something like this bombing to happen?" Brown asked. "Clearly this requires some discourse. But the Rush Limbaughs don't want to discuss whether there's an environment or climate which encourages this."

"[Speaker of the House] Newt [Gingrich] and Rush allow these people to achieve a level of comfort that shouldn't be provided," he said.

More than 150 students, faculty and visiting guests of the Kennedy School listened to the hour-long speech, which was given in the Arco Forum. A question and answer session followed Brown's talk, which was part of a weekend symposium on "The Pursuit of the American Spirit: Politics, Public Policy and Change."

"Brown's insights are particularly important given the current climate of change in government," said Walter Shorenstein, founder of Harvard's Shorenstein Barone Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy and a member of the Board of Overseers, the lesser of the University's governing boards.

"[Brown] is a gifted speaker--truly a master of what he does," Shorenstein commented.

Brown said politicians fail to address the "issues at the heart of the frustration of voters like the' angry white men."

"They [politicians] exploit the anger and poison the public discourse," Brown said. "This is what allows things like Oklahoma to occur."

Brown said he was disheartened to learn thatmore than two million fewer Californians voted in1994 than did in 1992.

"In some communities, like my community, thatis the African-American community, fewer than 30percent of voters vote. People are not being heardon issues which effect them," Brown said.

Brown opened his talk with a series oflighthearted jokes about affirmative action.

Upon boarding his plane from San Francisco toBoston on Friday night, Brown said he wasintroduced to the pilot, who was Black, and theco-pilot, who was a woman.

"Then I wondered, out loud, whether or not Ireally wanted to be on this plane. My commitmentto affirmative action is practical and flexible,"he joked, eliciting a raucous response from theaudience. "Then, I figured, I'm the only Blackpassenger on this plane and God isn't going tokill all 200 of these white people just to getme.

Brown said he was disheartened to learn thatmore than two million fewer Californians voted in1994 than did in 1992.

"In some communities, like my community, thatis the African-American community, fewer than 30percent of voters vote. People are not being heardon issues which effect them," Brown said.

Brown opened his talk with a series oflighthearted jokes about affirmative action.

Upon boarding his plane from San Francisco toBoston on Friday night, Brown said he wasintroduced to the pilot, who was Black, and theco-pilot, who was a woman.

"Then I wondered, out loud, whether or not Ireally wanted to be on this plane. My commitmentto affirmative action is practical and flexible,"he joked, eliciting a raucous response from theaudience. "Then, I figured, I'm the only Blackpassenger on this plane and God isn't going tokill all 200 of these white people just to getme.