Political activist and author Randall Robinson lit the wick of a fiery UW-Madison debate Tuesday, advocating slavery reparations and the ongoing movement for racial equality.

Robinson spoke to a packed Memorial Union Theatre, and next week a similar turnout is expected for the reparations opponent, politically conservative author and activist David Horowitz.

“We hope is going to talk about reparations, but he is kind of hard to control,” said Tim Lindl, director of the Distinguished Lecture Series.

Stan Woodard, Midwest Director of Reparations, introduced Robinson, calling him “one of our great African-American leaders.”

Robinson’s main point in his speech said the United States has not placed enough importance on education and celebration of black history. He spoke, among other things, of the lack of war memorials in Washington, D.C., and the lack of people of color depicted in art in public buildings on Washington Mall.

“No [Harriet] Tubman, no [Frederick] Douglas, no [Sojourner] Truth,” he said of the buildings. “No indication that slavery has ever happened. This is a history we have repressed as a nation.”

Robinson did concur that the United States had a “Black History Month,” but he spoke disparagingly of it.

“Did it occur to us how self-damning it is to have a Black History Month?” he asked. “It’s tantamount to a confession that the history we learn is flawed. Isn’t it absurd to segregate history?”

Robinson argued that part of the reason Jewish people have been able to recover and survive in the face of adversity is because they have a history that dates back 4,000 years and they learn about it, whereas black people are not taught as much of their past.

One of the best ways to overcome the past and flourish in the future, according to Robinson, would be to offer slave reparations.

“We have a debt to pay. But we don’t pay it as whites to blacks,” he said. “This was racial, but it’s not racial now. The money would come from tax coffers.”

He also explained that not every black person would receive money.

“I am damaged, but I am not poor, so I would make myself ineligible,” he said.

Robinson also stressed that UW-Madison students have a special responsibility in this and other national debates.

“Years back, this place led America,” he said.

He told students that they were at the right time in their lives to begin to get involved with issues.

“Students ? before marriage, before mortgage, before debt, when [their] idealism can run to its full blossom, must ? give rein to their last opportunity to act on their beliefs.”

Robinson said he feels America has lost the sense of what democratic responsibility is, that America has somehow confused the essence of democracy with the “ritual” of elections.

“Virtually all countries have elections,” he said. “Many in which the winners win routinely with 200 percent of the vote.”

Robinson further explained that true democracy requires participation.

“Democracy is inefficient and inexact and requires all of us to be vigilant, well informed and visionary.” he said. “We are living in a time where our elementary freedoms are being eroded as we sit here.”

One of the major issues Robinson addressed was the disproportionate number of people of color in prisons, calling these prisons the “neo-slavery” of our time. He said a black man arrested in America today for a serious crime was six times more likely to be convicted, and of those convicted, black men served twice as long of a jail sentence. He also said black men comprised 12 percent of all convicted nonviolent drug offenses, yet 75 percent of those imprisoned for these offenses, and that overall, 50 percent of those sentenced to death were black.

Robinson condemned ex-President Bill Clinton for his part in this.

“Why people like Bill Clinton just befuddles me.” he said. “I guess it’s because he plays the saxophone or something. He was just flat-out awful. He added more people to our prison rolls than Bush and Reagan combined.”

However, law enforcement was not the only area in which discrimination is felt, according to Robinson.

“Wage discrimination alone from 1929 to 1969 could be quantified as upwards of 10 trillion dollars,” he said.

Robinson urged students not to look the “other way” but to address the problems in society.

“It’s good to love one’s country, but there are higher things to love, like humanity,” he said. “The biggest friend of tyranny is apathy. Sometimes when you fight hard enough, you win.”

Lindl said he was very pleased with Robinson’s speech.

“It was even better than we expected.” Lindl said. “He was worth twice what we paid for him to speak. He was by far the most poignant speaker I have heard in the series. He was phenomenal.”

Many students agreed.

“I learned a lot,” graduate student Saadia Lawton said. “As students, we are here to hear different perspectives and synthesize that information so we can make sense of it for ourselves. I think Robinson was advocating that as well. We don’t all have to think alike.”