White Jazz Professor Canceled for Criticizing Critical Race Theory Plans Lawsuit
Dave Huber, College Fix, January 12, 2025
A music professor canceled for daring to criticize his school’s inclusivity measures and critical race theory filed suit against his school … and plans to file another one.
Martin Speake, a U.K. “composer, saxophonist, academic and educator” specializing in jazz, early last year had responded to a request for feedback regarding Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance‘s “BLM/anti-racist policies and initiatives.”
Speake (pictured) noted in his email response “that there is no systemic racial inequality in the UK jazz scene,” and that critical race theory is “divisive and dangerous.”
He concluded with Martin Luther King Jr.’s quote about judging people “by the content of their character,” not their skin color.
Here’s what followed, according to the professor:
Some time later I forwarded this email to a student with whom I had had a stimulating conversation on the topic earlier that day. This student showed the email to some peers, but didn’t forward it to anyone. Nevertheless, as some students heard about it, the email began to attract some discontent and speculation within the student body. TL [Trinity Laban] then halted my teaching and pressured me to consent to the circulation of my email to the entire jazz department.
Speake claims Trinity Laban “threatened disciplinary action” against him, that students boycotted his classes, and that the London Jazz Orchestra (for whom he was lead alto saxophonist for 15 years) requested he take a leave of absence.
According to Slipped Disc, some Trinity Laban students even claimed Speake’s email “affected their mental health.”
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