Today, the president and CEO, along with the board of the Broken Arrow,  Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce attacked an individual for a video they showed at the latest Broken Arrow City Council meeting.  On Tuesday, January 19, the Broken Arrow City Council met in a special council session at the Stoney Creek Convention Center to discuss a “mask mandate.”  They received testimony response from citizens, some demanding dictatorial rule and others against.  Most just demanded to be left alone, free from government harassment.  One such citizen, Constitutional Grounds executive Lori Gracey, presented a video which she narrated warning that history compels us to choose a better path.  It warned of the dangers of discrimination and harassment.  It compared the plight of the many groups discriminated against by Nazi Germany to the discrimination and harassment inherent in mask dictates.  The Chamber took exception to this presentation.

The presentation (attached at left) made the argument that masks are a means to discriminate.  Only the “approved,” those with the appropriate attire may be free from discrimination and harassment.  That there is a comparison between today’s and historical discrimination is undeniable, and was demonstrated by numerous witnesses who have suffered under it, including an 11-year-old boy.  The presentation questioned just how far today’s harassers would take their crimes.  Would they go as far as the Nazis did?

The presentation also made the point that there are two sets of laws, one for the "rulers" and one for the rest of us.  While the video cited Nancy Pelosi, there are plenty of examples.  For instance, Joe Biden has just been criticized for not wearing a mask directly after issuing an executive order requiring them on federal property.  His press secretary, also on federal property and without mask, defended his non-use claiming it was a special moment. 
 
Jennifer Conway, from the Chamber said, “I, and the Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, must state that it is abhorrent to compare the concerns of wearing a mask with the atrocities experienced by the Jewish people during the Holocaust.  The presentation was an inappropriate comparison and is not a representation of the hearts and beliefs of the Broken Arrow community…”

That the BA Chamber obfuscates Gracey’s message demonstrates just how much they reject the lessons we must all learn from history.  The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has as its mission, in part, “…to encourage its visitors to reflect upon the moral and spiritual questions raised by the events of the Holocaust as well as their own responsibilities as citizens of a democracy” (https://ift.tt/3iG3PYY).  Obviously, the BA Chamber president and board members need to visit this important museum to learn these vital lessons. 
 
You be the judge.  We have included the presentation, the Chamber letter, and other photos for your perusal.  We call for the resignation of Jennifer Conway, as well as any on the board who concur with her letter.  We also call for a boycott of any BA Chamber affiliated businesses until the Chamber apologizes publicly to Lori Gracey and condemns their institutional discrimination.