Goethe/Live Oak/Riverbend/Some Maidu word most people won't try to pronounce Park

So a local park along the American River is having it's name changed, because the man it's named after apparently promoted eugenics, a 19th century theory that mental and physical defects are hereditary and that people with mental illness should be forcibly sterilized so they wouldn't have children and "pollute" the healthy hereditary lines. Later on people used it to justify racism and other rotten causes.

Pretty messed up, I agree--but as a student of history, I'd also point out that people had alot less knowledge and alot more biases back then. Besides, people are still using foolish ideas to justify their own, more foolish ideas. In 100 years we'll probably be taking their names off of park signs too. I respect the gesture, it's a nice thought. But it seems kind of pointless. Also interesting is this--wikipedia says Alexander Graham Bell was a proponent of eugenics too! Guess we all better stop using our phones :) I sincerely doubt there are many historical figures that didn't have something stupid they did/believed in during their lifetimes. But I guess we pick and choose who we're going to be proud of, and who we'll be ashamed of.

Other people will be wondering about the dumb stuff we concerned ourselves with in some far-off day. Will they condemn us for buying Kraft Mac & Cheese, since Kraft is owned by the Philip-Morris company, who knowingly sell addictive products that cause cancer and emphysema? What will they say about the cheap products we buy that are made by people who couldn't afford to buy the product they make themselves, since they're paid so poorly? Or about us depending on fossil fuels for transportation, when there are clean, non-polluting alternatives that would work just as well? And how about the millions we spend on entertainment while people are living homeless on the streets? What will they say about our society that centers around the mighty dollar? About the way we spend hours upon hours struggling our lives away to get this strange currency, often at the expense of growth, learning & exploration that could have made us better people while we lived? They'll be pulling our names off signs faster than you can blink, I betcha.

So the park system has asked the local populace to vote on several choices for the new name (hence the title of this post). I personally voted for the Maidu word--even though the locals won't bother learning how it's pronounced and will be slaughtering it for generations to come. I like the idea of giving some props to the Maidu--who have been so reduced in our time that I'd never heard of them until I took a class on local Anthropology. And I've lived here almost all my life! I never really liked the park's original name anyway--no one could agree on how it was supposed to be pronounced.

So I guess I'm saying--we should never honor bigotry or hatred--but we should be careful, lest we end up with no heroes at all. After all, nobody's perfect.