Louis Farrakhan speaks at UC Berkeley

Noah Berger / Special to The Chronicle

Louis Farrakhan holds up a copy of his book during his speech at UC Berkeley.

UC Berkeley on Saturday was once again the crucible of the free speech debate.

The birthplace of the Free Speech Movement in the 1960s hosted another iconoclast from the era, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, whose speeches and writings have been denounced by critics for decades as bigoted, homophobic and anti-Semitic.

Farrakhan was invited as a speaker for the ninth annual Afrikan Black Coalition Conference organized by the Black Student Union, and his appearance was denounced by other student groups and the subject of an online petition "opposing his hateful words and character" that garnered about 350 signatories.

At least two opinion pieces authored by student leaders denouncing Farrakhan's appearance were published in the campus newspaper, the Daily Californian, including one by Shawn Lewis, president of the Berkeley College Republicans, who wondered where was Chancellor Robert Birgeneau's condemnation of Farrakhan after the chancellor and others were quick to denounce as racist the college Republicans "Increase Diversity Bake Sale" last September to protest affirmative action-type policies.

Even UC President Mark Yudof weighed in on the Farrakhan appearance, writing in an open letter that "we cannot as a society allow what we regard as vile speech to lead us to abandon the cherished value of free speech."

But that only required that people "condemn these merchants of hatred when they come into our community," Yudof wrote.

There were no protesters outside Wheeler Auditorium before Farrakhan's speech, and only one after.

That was Noah Ickowitz, a student senator who said Farrakhan had every right to appear on campus, and Ickowitz had every right to protest a speech he said advocated black empowerment at the expense of other groups.

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Louis Farrakhan speaks at UC Berkeley