Mayor does good | Rose
Good on Mayor Greg Fischer for a semi-quick decision to remove the offensive John B. Castleman and George D. Prentice statues. We also like that it coincided with LEO’s cover story “Our Bloody Monday” by Kevin Gibson about the anti-immigrant riots of 1855. The mayor was correct to not base his decision on what he thinks about the statues, but, rather, on what others perceived: “ ... My threshold question was whether the Castleman statue would be appropriate in a predominately African American neighborhood. The answer obviously is NO. It would be viewed as disrespectful of a historic and painful past.”
Move to Mississippi, please | Thorn
Bad on the racists and keyboard Confederates who clogged online comment sections about the removal of the statues with their history-not-hate comments and worse... much worse.
Yet another racist genius | Rose and Thorn
We love that another drive-in theater has opened, but the Sauerbeck Family Drive-In probably should not have named its entrance road, D.W. Griffith Lane, after Oldham County’s native son. Griffith certainly was a technical pioneer and genius of filmmaking, but he also made “The Birth of a Nation,” based on the book “The Clansman.” Upon its release (and since), the 1915 silent film was panned for its profoundly racist portrayals of African-Americans, rosy depiction of the Ku Klux Klan and use of white actors in blackface. Former Grand Wizard David Duke used the film to recruit new Klansmen in the late 1970s, NPR reported.
Looks like a copying machine | Absurd
The CJ used one of its rare editorials to laud the new downtown convention center as “a shining example of Louisville and Kentucky teamwork.” And this is because... city and state officials delivered what they promised? We say they deserve a participation award...
Ark Park is no forbidden city | Absurd
The first press release said Gov. Matt Bevin would take China’s ambassador this week on a tour of the “most notable attractions and business partners.” Two minutes later, another said only “local businesses.” Bevin likely didn’t want to be laughed at when they got to the Ark Park or the [What in] Creation Museum.
