In a 2001 column in "Salon" he described his opposition to reparations for slavery, calling it racism against blacks, as it defined them only in terms of their descent from slaves. He argued that applying labels like "descendants of slaves" to blacks was damaging and would serve to segregate them from mainstream society. In the same year during Black History Month, Horowitz attempted to purchase advertising space in several American university student publications to express his opposition to reparations. Many student papers refused to sell him ad space; at some schools, papers that carried his ads were stolen or destroyed. Walsh said the furor had given Horowitz an overwhelming amount of free publicity.