Following movements across the country demanding the removal of all memories of iconography and perceived racist honors, the Orange County Democratic Party (DPOC) has issued a resolution to remove John Wayne from its namesake airport.
Democrats want to revert the airport to its original designation: Orange County Airport.
Wayne, a movie star whose career spanned five decades, was a notorious conservative in a less tolerant era. Wayne, born Marion Robert Morrison, starred in more than 140 movies and became a Hollywood symbol of American values and ideals. She died on June 11, 1979.
In a 1971 Playboy In the magazine interview, Wayne openly provided some of his thoughts on race.
“With many blacks, there is quite a bit of resentment, along with their dissent, and possibly with good reason,” he said. “But suddenly we can’t kneel down and turn everything over to black leadership. I believe in white supremacy until blacks are brought up to a point of responsibility. “
Related story
From ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ to James Bond’s debut, was 1962 the best movie year in history? A new book says yes
He continued: “I do not believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people. … I don’t think we have done wrong by removing this great country from the Indians. Our alleged theft of this country from them was only a matter of survival. There were a large number of people who needed new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves. “
The Democrats’ call to remove Wayne is not the first time the name of the Orange County airport has been examined. In March 2019, there were many calls for the airport to remove Wayne’s association after the resurgence of the Playboy interview.
The latest Democratic resolution says: “Orange County is now a diverse region very different from when John Wayne was chosen as the namesake. The removal of racist symbols provides a necessary process for communities to remember the historical actors in violence and to recognize victims of oppression. ”
Orange County Democrats formally condemned John Wayne’s past statements and called for his name and likeness to be removed from the Orange County airport. They also asked the Orange County Board of Supervisors to restore the name of the airport to “Orange County Airport”.
The resurgence of Wayne’s inflammatory remarks also encouraged USC students in 2019 to call for the removal of John Wayne’s exhibition at the School of Motion Picture Arts. Nicknamed “The Wayne Collection,” the retrospective was devoted to his prolific film career. He attended USC in the 1920s.
The OC Democrat’s statement is attached below.
