Chief Justice Debra Lambert speaks at the podium during a Black History Month celebration as Sen. Gerald Neal and, far right, Rep. George Brown look on. (Kentucky Lantern photo by McKenna Horsley)
FRANKFORT — Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear said during a Black History Month celebration that Republican President Donald Trump’s comments blaming diversity initiatives for a deadly midair collision in Washington, D.C., were “without merit” and far from an example of “leadership.”
“I understand I would never be able to feel the historical and ever present weight of systematic racism, inequity and injustice, but I know it exists,” Beshear told the crowd gathered in the state Capitol rotunda Thursday. “And I know it’s impossible for me to imagine the horror and scars and distrust that so many moments in our history still cause, but we cannot ignore the past. We cannot turn away from the most painful moments and pretend they don’t exist.”
The annual celebration, held by the Kentucky Black Legislative Caucus, focuses on Kentucky’s Black history. During last year’s celebration, Beshear defended diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI )initiatives amid GOP-backed efforts to curb DEI at Kentucky universities. Those bills did not pass last year, but Republican Senate President Roberts Stivers, of Manchester, said Wednesday that an informal working group of lawmakers and staff from the Kentucky attorney general’s office are reviewing possible legislation to propose.
While U.S. presidents have long recognized Black History Month at the federal level, Kentucky is not one of the six states that formally recognize the month. Rep. George Brown Jr., D-Lexington, filed a bill in the House to designate Jan. 15 to Apr. 4 as Black History Season within Kentucky. Two Republican backed bills in the House and Senate slated for Thursday committees propose recognizing June as Kentucky History Month.
Democratic lawmakers, who are also members of the Black Legislative Caucus, have filed legislation this session to formally recognize Juneteenth in Kentucky. Beshear previously signed an executive order recognizing Juneteenth, which celebrates the freedom of enslaved people after the Civil War, as a holiday for state executive branch employees.
Since taking power last month, Trump’s administration has targeted DEI initiatives and programs across government agencies and the private sector. According to a memo to employees, the Defense Intelligence Agency ordered a pause of all activities and events related to “special observances,” including Black History Month, because of one of the president’s recent executive orders. However, Trump recognized Black History Month through an executive order he signed last week.
Beshear noted that all three branches of Kentucky’s government were represented at Thursday’s celebration. Along with him, Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman from the executive branch attended, as well as most of the Supreme Court justices and several Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
Chief Justice Debra Lambert, who was installed last month as the first female chief justice of the state’s high court, recalled the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. That declared racial segregation in schools unconstitutional in 1954. She also pointed to the previous Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, which allowed “separate but equal” accommodations. Kentuckian Justice John Marshall Harlan wrote the lone dissent to that decision.
“The lesson from Brown is clear,” Lambert said. “The courts have the power to uphold the rights secured by the Constitution, but it is the people, through courage and persistence, who push society forward and make justice a reality.”
In her remarks to the crowd, newly selected House Democratic Floor Leader Rep. Pamela Stevenson, of Louisville, said that while she was speaking to a group of students last week, a girl asked her if the U.S. government has gas chambers out of concern for a friend.
“We put our 12- and 13-year-olds in a position where they’ve heard about things that we’ve created,” Stevenson said. “So in this instance, this is what we can learn from the past.”
Stevenson recently filed papers to begin raising money to run in 2026 for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Mitch McConnell.
