Goethe had flare

One of the most common search engine queries that land on the Sac Rag is “goethe pronounce“. They land here because, of course, it’s Sacramento related and thusly has been written about on this here web log. Wikipedia has it as “Gay-tee” named after Charles Goethe (as Runnergirl noted) the famous, you know, eugenicist.

Goethe (pronounced “Gay-tee”) wrote admiringly of California’s Forty-Niners and the State’s giant redwood trees. Goethe also recommended compulsory sterilization of the ‘socially unfit’, opposed immigration, and praised German scientists who used a comprehensive sterilization program to ‘purify’ the Aryan race before the outbreak of World War II. Goethe also funded anti-Asian campaigns, praised the Nazis before and after World War II, and practiced discrimination in his business dealings, refusing to sell real estate to Mexicans and Asians.

Yikes. And all we care about his how to pronounce the dude’s name? I’m no Sacramento historian so I bounced around the Internet for a few minutes and found an article on the statehornet.com Web site about renaming the C.M. Goethe Arboretum early last year. This spawned a Web site, changethesign.org, which serves to “begin a public debate over how to approach the history of the relationship between Goethe and CSUS.”

So what’s the deal with this guy, CSUS, and the park in Rancho Cordova? And how can we blame Julie Durda for this?

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Author: RonTopofIt

RonTopofIt is a complex personality, as are most of the small breed of modern day renaissance millionaires. He wishes more people were like him and yet believes that it takes all kinds. You've met RonTopofIt many times, you just don't remember him.

18 thoughts on “Goethe had flare”

  3. I should think that the renaming of soon-to-be “Durda Park” will be a snap once we get our hands on some of that new oil company tax money that prop 87 will collect.

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  4. Snark aside, if they still haven’t changed “Kearny Street” in San Francisco, the odds of getting Goethe park renamed are slim.

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  5. what’s wrong with Kearny? as we all learned on Sunday night, he went to the third grade with Otto. also, one of the top 5 greatest Simpsons quotes ever, we know he has a child who sleeps in a drawer. doesn’t he deserve our pity?

    but seriously, what’s wrong with Captain Stephen Kearny, father of the US Calvary?

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  6. According to the local historian who was lecturing on the american river parkway at the Sacramento zoo:

    It’s pronounced gay-thee.

    William B. Pond was an actual person. It’s not a pond named after William B. like I always thought.

    The river used to be really polluted and ugly before the restoration in the late 60’s.

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  7. There is a Goethe Junior High at the end of Tamoshanter in south Sac right near where the cluster of homicides went down recently. It’s where I would have gone to Jr. High had I not spent my pre- and early teen years being beaten by nuns.

    Growing up, we always pronounced it GAY-dee. As in, “Tom’s going to GAY-dee next year. His white ass is going to get jumped.”

    Also, here is a little nugget that I’ll offer to the Sacrag for free:

    After attending Goethe Jr. High, most students go on to attend Luther Burbank High School (or, just “Burbank”). Luther Burbank was into selectively breeding plants. Coincidence? (Maniacal laughter)

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  8. How ’bout that compulsory sterilization of the ‘socially unfit’ part? Not as fun as the “how to pronounce” game, I know, but sure does seem to be relevant here…

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  9. “..compulsory sterilization of the ‘socially unfit'”

    Like most of us haven’t fantasized about that for years?

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  11. “Posted by and your point is..? on 09/13/06 at 08:15 AM

    “..compulsory sterilization of the ‘socially unfit'”

    Like most of us haven’t fantasized about that for years?”

    By “us”, do you mean republicans?

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  13. On my way home, I noticed the sign on facing J Street no longer mentioned Geothe — it now says “University Arboretum.” I never would have noticed if you hadn’t pointed it out. Thanks for a great post.

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  14. More fun with Goethe:

    The name of one Sacramento school may be changed because of its connection to a white supremacist. Officials at Charles M. Goethe Middle School are trying to remove its racist roots.

    Watch the video, too. It appears this name change may be fast tracked.

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  15. News10.net picked up on the story, too.

    She said learned of Goethe’s disturbing past when researching the school’s name on on-line. She came across a research paper written in 2004 by Tony Platt, a professor emeritus at California State University, Sacramento.

    Platt is traveling from his home in Berkeley to Sacramento tonight to speak before the school board.

    “He (Goethe) would be turning in his grave if he saw all of the young scholars at this school,” said Platt.

    Who shot who in the what now? Was he a youngscholarist, too?

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  17. Yeah! We can rename all things named after historical figures who may have done “bad” stuff in the past! Especially when the NEW names are of fleeting minor, but more PC, figures. Hindsight is grand, huh?! Must get rid of all names involving Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Adams- the whole lot of people who might have known others how owned slaves, or dumped their trash in the woods, or hunted foxes, etc. Next- Roosevelt, Kennedy, Eisenhower. I’m sure they poured motor oil on the ground or something. Hell- just get rid of the whole “founded by white males” concept. Really looking forward to imposing another name change and fun blight on people living on the new “Jessie Jackson Way” (JJ Way?), replacing the formerly named Jefferson Ave.
    Idiots. What the heck did Rosa Parks do for Sacramento anyway? Why wasn’t “T.A. Edison School”

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  18. you know what would be great, is if we could rename Turty Squip “that guy everybody voted to be shot into space in a rocket”

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