(britannica.com)
ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA – Democrats are saying it’s high time native Iowan John Wayne mosey off into the sunset as they move to strip his name off the sign of an airport named after him in California.
John Wayne has been a beloved character in countless movies over the decades leading to his death in 1979. The grizzled, gritty, square-jawed tough man actor played heroes in war movies and cowboy films, always quick on the draw to put the bad guy out to pasture once his time had come. Now, Democrats, seizing on the turbulent cancel-culture of today’s high-octane political landscape, are turning the tables on The Duke, saying it’s high time Winterset, Iowa’s John Wayne mosey off into the sunset and have his name stripped from a California airport named after him. Leftists are trump-eting alleged remarks he made decades ago in interviews. For example, he made some controversial statements to Playboy back in 1971:
“With a lot of blacks, there’s quite a bit of resentment along with their dissent, and possibly rightfully so. But we can’t all of a sudden get down on our knees and turn everything over to the leadership of the blacks. I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility. I don’t believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people.”
Wayne also commented on slavery, saying:
“I don’t feel guilty about the fact that five or 10 generations ago these people were slaves. Now, I’m not condoning slavery. It’s just a fact of life, like the kid who gets infantile paralysis and has to wear braces so he can’t play football with the rest of us. I will say this, though: I think any black who can compete with a white today can get a better break than a white man. I wish they’d tell me where in the world they have it better than right here in America.”
According to a press release from Orange County, California Democrats:
Resolution #6-26-20
RESOLUTION TO REMOVE JOHN WAYNE FROM ORANGE COUNTY AIRPORT
WHEREAS, A national movement to remove white supremacist symbols and names is reshaping American institutions, monuments, businesses, nonprofits, sports leagues and teams, as it is widely recognized that racist symbols produce lasting physical and psychological stress and trauma particularly to Black communities, people of color and other oppressed groups, and the removal of racist symbols provides a necessary process for communities to remember historic acts of violence and recognize victims of oppression; and
WHEREAS, O range County is now a diverse region far different from the time when John Wayne was chosen as namesake for the airport, as today Orange County is vibrantly multicultural, and according to the most recent Orange County Annual Survey, 79% of respondents see the county’s increasing ethnic diversity as a source of great strength; and
WHEREAS, There have been numerous calls to remove John Wayne’s namesake from Orange County’s airport because of Wayne’s white supremacist, anti-LGBT, and anti-Indigenous views which were shared in part in a a 1971 interview, where Wayne is quoted saying, “I believe in white supremacy” and “I don’t feel guilty about the fact that five or 10 generations ago these people were slaves;”
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, The Democratic Party of Orange County condemns John Wayne’s racist and bigoted statements, and calls for John Waynes’ name and likeness to be removed from the Orange County airport, and calls on the OC Board of Supervisors to restore its original name: Orange County Airport.
Submitted by: Ada Briceño, Chair, Democratic Party of Orange County, DNC member-elect Fred Smoller, Associate Professor of Political Science, Chapman University Dr. Michael A. Moodian, Lecturer of Leadership Studies, Chapman University
The outcome on the airport initiative has yet to be determined.
You leave The Duke alone and do not drop his name from that airport!!! I am just like him, so there!!!!
I use to be a fan after reading his disgusting remarks i have no respect or live for him and all his movies are going thru my shredder in past or now there’s no place for hatred of any kind beyond forgivable WRONG!!!!!!!
Alisa… “there’s no place for hatred” but it KINDA sounds like you hate John Wayne.
John Wayne, and people that think like him didn’t get to be that way for no reason at all. Think about what those reasons might have been…and be honest.
Call it obiden
Name it after Chuck Norris!!
Ford pickups will have to change the name too.
yea junk
Rename it after Peewee Herman.
Do you mean call it a, “Reuben hold the pickle?”
This controversy about the Orange County name of the airport goes back before all the current upheaval even as far back as 2008.
Wayne was never a major contributor to civic life in his home town or county.
Add to that, that he was a bigot and a racist
And in real life, Wayne was no patriotic hero either.
Wayne despite his later flag-waving and Vietnam War-mongering. Wayne was 34 when the Pearl Harbor attack brought the U.S. into World War II, and he dodged enlistment even in the documentary film unit headed
by his mentor, director John Ford, which irked Ford no end.
Stay the HELL away from John Wayne!
John Wayne was a pussy.
He liked to secretly dress up in women’s clothes.
He should have been President
Dont bother to confront the trumpies with reality. They believe in alternative facts.
Stock up on Kleenex. Four more years. How’s that for reality?
Reality is not your strong there little buckaroo.
Your head is so far up Trump’s ass, you can taste his lunch.
And you predicted WHAT in 2016?
Wrong then and wrong now, and still name-calling like a third grader.
^^
Anonymous June 28, 2020 at 1:15 pm
Dumbass in 2016 and still a dumbass now.
Get a clue ya moronic Trumptard.
You have missed on every one of your predictions, and instead of learning from your blunders, you call people names because they grasp reality better than you.
When Nancy Pelosi speaks, it’s you she is talking to.
Let’s see, you call someone out for calling you a name.
Donald Trump calls people derogatory names all of the time, yet you support Donald Trump.
You attempt to chastise someone for calling you a name.
Donald Trump denigrates hundreds of people with name-calling, yet you idolize Donald Trump.
You were not called a name out of spite.
It was simply pointed out that you… are…indeed…a dumbass.
leave John Wayne alone!