Jews are “Slave Dealers”, says Professor at Berklee College of Music
Payton called Jewish worship temples “a synagogue of Satan.”
A professor and Chair of the Brass Department at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston MA — a school often compared to The Juilliard School in NYC — is facing its own antisemitic cause célèbre at the behest of upset parents.
Nicholas Payton, a Grammy Award-winning musician took up a role as the Chair of the Brass Department last Fall, according to the Berklee School of Music. Prior to that, he worked in the music industry for over 30 years, with many accolades.
But accolades don’t necessarily translate into good character.
For the past week, parents have been petitioning to remove Nicholas Payton from Berklee after a number of antisemitic statements he made were uncovered, including statements where he allegedly said Jews were “vile predators.”
A mother of a Berklee student spoke to me Thursday afternoon on the issue.
“I 1000% don’t think it’s OK for the school to keep employing Nicholas Payton. I feel like if he was targeting any other group, such as black people, asians, or transgender people, it would absolutely not be tolerated.”
“So it’s very frustrating that it’s being tolerated when he’s attacking Jews.”
According to Peter Himmelman’s research, Payton said in 2020 that Jews were “vile predators” and blamed them for the Atlantic Slave Trade. This was the slavery route that brought Africans against their will to the Americas and elsewhere to be enslaved.
Elsewhere, Payton called Jewish worship temples “a synagogue of Satan.”
“All these so-called Jews mad, because how dare I make them face the facts of their sordid past and present... Expose how Jewish people have exploited us. Apologize for it and atone and do better” he has said.
He also blames Jews for “controlling the media”, which he frames as discriminatory towards African American and Black men like himself.
“Amazing how Jews always have a ‘negligible’ role in every historic horror that they’ve been irrefutably associated with... but Jews, magically, are clean as a whistle! INCREDIBLE!”
“They still control a large portion of the media and entertainment industry. And I maintain their history in the music business has often been oppressive.”
In response to a Jewish musician, Payton said: “From my vantage point, he’s nothing but a vile predator who sucks the life blood out of the artists whom he uses to help maintain his wealth and status.”
Since the petition was launched 6 days ago, over 4,000 students, alumni and concerned citizens have signed it. They urge the school to remove him. Why? To avoid sinking the school’s reputation — as we have seen at Columbia —and to stand up to bigotry in all its forms and protect Jewish students.
“We urge you to act swiftly and decisively. There must be consequences for this kind of open bigotry. Berklee must show its community, and the world, that it will not remain silent,” the petition ends.
In response, Payton screenshotted the petition and uploaded it on Instagram, saying “gotta admit, that’s a nice touch with the AI photo [on the petition] haha”. As if his antisemitism and this petition of concerned parents was somehow a joke to him.
The mother of a current Berklee Student told me: “I would feel so relieved if they let Payton go. It would be a step in the right direction. Given the climate of antisemitism on campus, it drives home my fears even harder” as her young Jewish son is at the school.
“It’s one more thing I have to worry about. Is someone going to hurt my son for no other reason than because of his religion?”
“And having….. a professor like this who could possibly be inciting this violence makes my skin crawl. My son has every right just like every other kid on campus to feel safe at school while he’s trying to get an education.”
Neither Payton nor Berklee have responded to media inquiries.
This piece was brought to you by Toni Airaksinen, Senior Editor of Liberty Affair and a journalist based in Boca Raton, Florida. Follow her on X @Toni_Airaksinen, and on Instagram, where she frequently posts about Israel and antisemitism.
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Yikes. Am I wrong in noticing that there seems to be a lot of antisemitism in the black community? Because that's the impression I have.
Also, I don't understand why people in public roles like this guy feel the need to publicly comment on things like this. Why not just stick to teaching and doing music and keep these opinions private?
I am not in favour of cancelling people for their views but this is shocking. This level of prejudice strongly suggests he would be unable to treat Jewish students with respect or fairness. No other group would be expected to tolerate this. Why on earth was he appointed without a check of his views? Or worse, was it checked and deemed acceptable?