As our black political leadership prepared to have their annual party at the Lake of the Ozarks, Governor Blunt signed a bill introduced this session to establish a Holocaust Commission. The 12-member body will be charged with orchestrating annual activities in remembrance of the Jewish Holocaust.
In 2003, Governor Holden signed HB 640, a bill that legitimizes Juneteenth as an official state holiday and calls for a similar commission and an annual appropriation to establish a single annual event to commemorate the Black Holocaust here in America. In lieu of black legislators’ ability to move that bill, Holden issued an executive order to do so June 18, 2004.
The difference between having a bill and an executive order is the bill makes the commission permanent in Missouri statues, whereas an executive order can be overturned by any future governor. To date, three bills to make the Juneteenth Emancipation Commission permanent have failed to pass, mostly due to black legislators’ lack of interest. Are they so oblivious to our history, are they ashamed or are they just out of touch?
Curtis Faulkner, director
Missouri Juneteenth Heritage & Jazz Festival