Liberals Call for 'Racist' and 'Homophobic' John Wayne Airport to be Renamed Southern California airport which bears the name of iconic screen legend under fire.
Southern California airport which bears the name of iconic screen legend John Wayne has come under fire following a social media uproar amid the resurfacing of a 1971 Playboy interview which has been described as 'racist' and 'homophobic.'
Liberals are now calling for the John Wayne Airport in Orange country to be renamed after claims he believed in “white supremacy,” at least "irresponsible" black people became more educated.
When asked which films he thought where 'perverted,' he referenced 1969’s “Easy Rider” and “Midnight Cowboy,” before using homophobic slurs when discussing movies.
Other debates surrounding the Airport was its failure to convey the airstrip's location in Santa Ana.
But columnist Michael Hiltzik suggested Wayne represents a bygone era that is far removed from progressive politics. “Orange County today is such an economically and ethnically diverse community that it’s hard to justify asking any member of that community to board planes at an airport named after an outspoken racist and homophobe, with his strutting statue occupying a central niche in front of the concourse,” Hiltzik wrote in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece. Also, Orange County's strong conservative leanings influenced their decision to name the airport for Wayne in 1979, Hiltzik wrote.
Most people familiar with the life story of John Wayne are aware that the late movie star was a dyed-in-the-wool right-winger — after all, he was still making a movie glorifying America’s conduct of the Vietnam War (“The Green Berets,” 1968) well after the country had begun to get sick of the conflict.
But the resurrection of a 1971 interview Wayne gave to Playboy magazine has underscored the sheer crudeness of the actor’s feelings about gay people, black people, Native Americans, young people and liberals.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s impossible or immoral to enjoy Westerns and war movies starring John Wayne; that’s a personal choice. But it certainly undermines any justification for his name and image to adorn a civic facility.
I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility.
John Wayne, 1971
This wouldn’t be the first time that the airport’s name has been the subject of debate. Orange County Supervisors pondered the issue in 2008, when local tourism officials expressed concern that the name failed to convey exactly where the airport is located. There may have been other occasions since 1979, when the supervisors christened the airport at the urging of Supervisor Thomas F. Riley.
Riley was an ex-Marine, but his rationale is lost in the mists of time. It may have had something to do with Wayne’s status as a rock-ribbed Republican conservative, which was Orange County’s self-image in that period.
But that Orange County no longer exists. That should be evident from the results of November’s election, in which voters turfed out the county’s last remaining GOP members of Congress — some of whom had embraced Donald Trump in a fruitless effort to save their careers--and elected an all-Democratic congressional delegation.
Orange County today is such an economically and ethnically diverse community that it’s hard to justify asking any member of that community to board planes at an airport named after an outspoken racist and homophobe, with his strutting statue occupying a central niche in front of the concourse.
READ MORE: https://neonnettle.com/news/6613-liberals-cal...be-renamed
© Neon Nettle
https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-m...story.html
Southern California airport which bears the name of iconic screen legend John Wayne has come under fire following a social media uproar amid the resurfacing of a 1971 Playboy interview which has been described as 'racist' and 'homophobic.'
Liberals are now calling for the John Wayne Airport in Orange country to be renamed after claims he believed in “white supremacy,” at least "irresponsible" black people became more educated.
When asked which films he thought where 'perverted,' he referenced 1969’s “Easy Rider” and “Midnight Cowboy,” before using homophobic slurs when discussing movies.
Other debates surrounding the Airport was its failure to convey the airstrip's location in Santa Ana.
But columnist Michael Hiltzik suggested Wayne represents a bygone era that is far removed from progressive politics. “Orange County today is such an economically and ethnically diverse community that it’s hard to justify asking any member of that community to board planes at an airport named after an outspoken racist and homophobe, with his strutting statue occupying a central niche in front of the concourse,” Hiltzik wrote in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece. Also, Orange County's strong conservative leanings influenced their decision to name the airport for Wayne in 1979, Hiltzik wrote.
Most people familiar with the life story of John Wayne are aware that the late movie star was a dyed-in-the-wool right-winger — after all, he was still making a movie glorifying America’s conduct of the Vietnam War (“The Green Berets,” 1968) well after the country had begun to get sick of the conflict.
But the resurrection of a 1971 interview Wayne gave to Playboy magazine has underscored the sheer crudeness of the actor’s feelings about gay people, black people, Native Americans, young people and liberals.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s impossible or immoral to enjoy Westerns and war movies starring John Wayne; that’s a personal choice. But it certainly undermines any justification for his name and image to adorn a civic facility.
I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility.
John Wayne, 1971
This wouldn’t be the first time that the airport’s name has been the subject of debate. Orange County Supervisors pondered the issue in 2008, when local tourism officials expressed concern that the name failed to convey exactly where the airport is located. There may have been other occasions since 1979, when the supervisors christened the airport at the urging of Supervisor Thomas F. Riley.
Riley was an ex-Marine, but his rationale is lost in the mists of time. It may have had something to do with Wayne’s status as a rock-ribbed Republican conservative, which was Orange County’s self-image in that period.
But that Orange County no longer exists. That should be evident from the results of November’s election, in which voters turfed out the county’s last remaining GOP members of Congress — some of whom had embraced Donald Trump in a fruitless effort to save their careers--and elected an all-Democratic congressional delegation.
Orange County today is such an economically and ethnically diverse community that it’s hard to justify asking any member of that community to board planes at an airport named after an outspoken racist and homophobe, with his strutting statue occupying a central niche in front of the concourse.
READ MORE: https://neonnettle.com/news/6613-liberals-cal...be-renamed
© Neon Nettle
https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-m...story.html
