Professor Lynne Weikart, PhD

Martin Luther King in "Letters from a Birmingham jail" "First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.”  Why aren't there more people in the streets objecting to ICE agents actions?

 The Mollen Commission, named after former Judge Milton Mollen, was created in 1992 by NYC's Mayor Dinkins to investigate police officers after several were arrested on drug charges in Suffolk County. The Mollen Commission recommended several changes to recruitment and retention that Trump and his advisors should consider when hiring ICE personnel. The Mollen Commission Report found that the rising crime of the 1980ss "led to a striking increase in the rate of hiring new officers accompanied by a systemic failure to conduct thorough background checks and hold applicants to standards beyond the stated automatic disqualifiers." IN effect the conclusion was that "approximately 20 percent of the officers suspended or dismissed should never have been admitted into the department." There were obvious red flags before they were hired which were ignored. Just as shocking, 88 percent of the officers in the study "entered the Police Academy before the completion of t...

 In an article in Patch , Riverhead  Town Supervisor Tim Hubbard released a statement Friday stating that despite recent federal executive actions, police will not detain anyone for suspected violations of immigration laws. Other East End towns, Shelter Island and Southold, have also made similar pronouncements. Some have yet to act to protect their neighbors and their service workers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents (ICE). There is no legal requirement for state, municipality, town, or other non-federal entities to assist or cooperate with such federal round-ups.  We need not and should not participate.   New York State has enacted a law, the Protect Our Courts Act, that keeps ICE officers from making civil arrests in and around NYS Courts, including City and other Municipal Courts. That is the extent of the restrictions on ICE. Consequently, ICE officers can go to our schools, homes, and places of business and arrest anyone they choose. But...

  Jamelle Bouie wrote a column in the New York Times today about Rudy Giuliani and he titled it - "Giuliani Was Always Like This." Bouie recounted the famous scene in 1992 at City Hall when Giuliani spoke to thousands of police officers rioting over African American Mayor Dinkins supporting the Civilian Review Board.  Giuliani supported the police and spoke disparaging about Dinkins. This was not the only incident in which Giuliani aligned himself with racist's cops who shouted - "a n***** mayor," or "the mayor's on crack." Other incidents of Giuliani's racism were ignored. He refused to meet with African American political officials, such as NYS Comptroller Carl McCall and Manhattan Borough President Virginia Fields. He spoke pejorative remarks about Al Sharpton.  When Giuliani ran against Dinkins for mayor, he consistently linked Dinkins to Jesse Jackson.  Barry Feinstein , the powerful president of New York’s Teamsters Local 237,  told   Th...

I want to share Bloomberg's article about free speech in the Wall Street Journal.  Republican Censorship Goes for Woke Ron DeSantis’s efforts to control educational and corporate speech are no better than the left’s. By  Michael R. Bloomberg Aug. 15, 2022 in Wall Street Journal Republicans often rightly complain that college campuses are hostile to the free exchange of ideas. Speakers over the past decade have regularly been disinvited, shouted down and even physically attacked by student activists unwilling to entertain different ideas and perspectives. This behavior is anathema to a university’s mission and deeply damaging to our nation. Unfortunately, instead of taking a principled stand for free speech, many Republicans are now saying: “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” Consider Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed a bill that as of July 1 bars professors from expressing any view in a classroom that “espouses, promotes, [or] advances” anything that c...