We were in Vienna recently and our tour guide (entertaining but not the most historically accurate) brought us to a desecrated statue of Dr. Karl Luger. When I asked what happened, he told me - paraphrasing here - that when American blew up in 2020, some fringe groups in Vienna decided to follow suit, and destroyed or removed a number of monuments amid chants of BLM.
He said it broke the city’s heart, and now no one has the courage to clean it up. 💔
The truth is a bit more nuanced - complex ideas of history always are when emotions and performative outrage take over the spots reserved for critical thinking and fact.
I’m with you, Christopher, Louisville’s namesake should be protected and seen, not hidden away or, forbid, destroyed.
Thank you for this. I hesitated to wade into this, but it’s been bothering me for a while. He’s the city’s namesake—more than symbolic, he represents a moment when France stood with us, when we needed an ally the most. His daughter, Marie-Thérèse, commissioned the statue. That alliance was personal then, and I’d argue it still is.
History isn’t tidy. And when we rush to silence the past instead of listening to it, we sometimes bury the lessons we most need to learn.
Gosh Lori, this is spot on: “The truth is a bit more nuanced - complex ideas of history always are when emotions and performative outrage take over the spots reserved for critical thinking and fact.” Let’s hope we can remember that in the fights that surely lie ahead.
First time reader and commenter. Love this thoughtful piece. The events of 2020 had so much of an impact on us and I appreciate hearing what happened where you were. Where I am Lancaster County, PA they tried to burn down the courthouse for a week. People were arrested and jailed, but they then went after the judge and his family. We cant forget what happened.
Thank you for reading and for sharing what was happening in Lancaster County. The Susquehanna has carried generations of stories, and yours adds another to that long current. I’m grateful you spoke up. Some years don’t pass—they imprint. And it’s in remembering that we start to unravel what they meant.
Thank you—that means a lot. Misunderstood figures like this one remind us that history isn’t there to flatter us, but to challenge us. The deeper we look, the more human it becomes.
In the year 2000, I was asked to opine on what big things the new century would bring. I confidently stated it would be a form of mass hysteria tinged with the lust for power and soaked in the politics of envy, bereft of all sanity. One fourth of the way into this century, I have not been disappointed in my prognostication abilities. We have said to the witch burners of Salem, "Here, hold my beer!"
You called it—and sadly, you weren’t wrong. Mass hysteria’s just gone digital, power plays feel more primal than ever, and envy? It’s practically a spectator sport now.
We were in Vienna recently and our tour guide (entertaining but not the most historically accurate) brought us to a desecrated statue of Dr. Karl Luger. When I asked what happened, he told me - paraphrasing here - that when American blew up in 2020, some fringe groups in Vienna decided to follow suit, and destroyed or removed a number of monuments amid chants of BLM.
He said it broke the city’s heart, and now no one has the courage to clean it up. 💔
The truth is a bit more nuanced - complex ideas of history always are when emotions and performative outrage take over the spots reserved for critical thinking and fact.
I’m with you, Christopher, Louisville’s namesake should be protected and seen, not hidden away or, forbid, destroyed.
Thank you for this. I hesitated to wade into this, but it’s been bothering me for a while. He’s the city’s namesake—more than symbolic, he represents a moment when France stood with us, when we needed an ally the most. His daughter, Marie-Thérèse, commissioned the statue. That alliance was personal then, and I’d argue it still is.
History isn’t tidy. And when we rush to silence the past instead of listening to it, we sometimes bury the lessons we most need to learn.
Gosh Lori, this is spot on: “The truth is a bit more nuanced - complex ideas of history always are when emotions and performative outrage take over the spots reserved for critical thinking and fact.” Let’s hope we can remember that in the fights that surely lie ahead.
First time reader and commenter. Love this thoughtful piece. The events of 2020 had so much of an impact on us and I appreciate hearing what happened where you were. Where I am Lancaster County, PA they tried to burn down the courthouse for a week. People were arrested and jailed, but they then went after the judge and his family. We cant forget what happened.
Thank you for reading and for sharing what was happening in Lancaster County. The Susquehanna has carried generations of stories, and yours adds another to that long current. I’m grateful you spoke up. Some years don’t pass—they imprint. And it’s in remembering that we start to unravel what they meant.
What a wonderful tribute to a misunderstood figure….and I agree that we should understand and come to terms with our history, not erase any of it.
Thank you—that means a lot. Misunderstood figures like this one remind us that history isn’t there to flatter us, but to challenge us. The deeper we look, the more human it becomes.
In the year 2000, I was asked to opine on what big things the new century would bring. I confidently stated it would be a form of mass hysteria tinged with the lust for power and soaked in the politics of envy, bereft of all sanity. One fourth of the way into this century, I have not been disappointed in my prognostication abilities. We have said to the witch burners of Salem, "Here, hold my beer!"
You called it—and sadly, you weren’t wrong. Mass hysteria’s just gone digital, power plays feel more primal than ever, and envy? It’s practically a spectator sport now.