I am encouraged by Governor Ducey’s signing of a bill to ensure our young people have knowledge of the holocaust in Europe, an event which took place over a period of nine years and involved the systematic, industrial killing of 7 million people in concentration camps. Our young people must understand this was an act of state sponsored evil, rooted in the populist dogmas which Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party used to persuade a population that a minority of the population was to blame. We have over 100k Jewish Americans in Arizona and should let them know that, if they are ever threatened, many, many others will defend their freedom.

As Governor Ducey pursues his political career, hopefully, he will move forward in accordance with the tenets of his own religion and see this as an opportunity to pass more laws which ensure our young people also learn the tragic story of slavery and the approximately five million black people who died either in the crossing of the Atlantic, or by lynchings, extra-judicial killings and conditions brought about by their enslavement over a period of four hundred years.

Because Arizona is our State, I hope the Governor will also enact legislation to ensure our children know about the great history of the Native American tribes of Arizona, of the heroic defense of their peoples led by Geronimo, of the systematic starvation and brutal treatment of their ancestors, the enforced schooling of their children to try ensure the breakdown of their culture and religion. We must celebrate the 317,000 Native Americans in Arizona who have survived and who have retained their customs as we live alongside them. To enjoy this great state is to enjoy its history and its magnificence. Knowledge is the key. Lies and ignorance are chains which keep us rooted in the past and stop us moving forward. To thrive, our young people need to know not only the history of the holocaust but the history of America and of course the history of Arizona.