Forty years ago, the park was named after philanthropist Charles M. Goethe. But it turns out Goethe was a white supremacist.

Community activists, like Michael Harris, are asking the board to change the name to: Leidesdorff Ranch….after California pioneer William Alexander Leidesdorff.

Harris says, back in the 1840s, Leidesdorff owned the land where Goethe Park sits today.      

"He was born in Danish Virgin Islands. His father was Danish/Jewish, his mother was Afro-Cuban. His land here in Sacramento County was a 35,000 acre ranch. It’s just an amazing story which is unknown by most people." 

Supervisors will also consider a Native American name for the park: Nisek’aw Park…which means “our land”. The park sits on more than 400 acres along the American River Parkway in Rancho Cordova.