Controversial Republican speaker Mason Weaver visited SF State Thursday to give a lecture titled, "Why African-Americans Vote Democrat".

Weaver was met by a smaller crowd than the nearly 500 students he encountered at the UC Berkeley campus on Oct. 20th. About 40 people attended his lecture in the Rosa Parks Conference Room.

"I am a close-minded, narrow-minded, Christian conservative Republican with attitude," stated Weaver during an interview prior to his speech.

Weaver promoted his book titled, “It's Okay to Leave the Plantation: The New Underground Railroad” several times during the hour-long lecture. The book's content discusses subjects such as Weaver's decision to change from liberal to conservative, as well as his opinion on African-American voting trends.

"Ninety percent of the black vote goes to the Democratic party," said Weaver. "This is the same party that brought us Jim Crow, while the Republican Party freed us from slavery."

Many audience members took issue with Weaver's views, as well as the facts and statistics he chose to use. During a question and answer session following the lecture, a heated debate occurred over whether his use of U.S. Census Bureau statistics was valid or not. Other students disliked his promotion of the Republican Party as better than the Democratic Party.

"I'm really upset about the fact that he claims all Republicans support laissez-faire government," said junior Peter Zerzan. "He needs to admit, and just be honest about the fact that Republicans give more money to corporations than they do to welfare," said Zerzan.

The lecture was planned and organized by the College Republicans, and president Chris Finarelli felt that Weaver's presence on campus was necessary to counter liberal speakers who appear more often on campus.

"There's been one conservative speaker to come here in the past six years (besides Weaver)," said Finarelli. "Even then, it wasn't paid for by the school."

In addition to the College Republicans, members of various other student groups appeared to offer both support and disapproval. Students from the General Union of Palestine Students and the College Democrats attended, as well as Associated Students Incorporated President Chris Jackson.

One angry student walked up to Weaver in the middle of his speech and tossed several pennies on the table in front of him before slamming the door behind him as he left.

Muata Kenyatta, Director of Performing Arts and Lectures of Associated Students, felt that while unwelcome by some, Weaver’s visit to campus was an important one.

"True liberalism is about seeing both sides of the issue and making an informed decision, said Kenyatta. "Without a dialogue, it's a monologue.”