Make no mistake about it: John Wayne was not, by any means, a bleeding heart liberal. However, given the shocking reaction from many this past weekend, stemming from an airport in California named after Wayne, you’d think these uber-progressive millennials thought he was one of their own all these years.
According to Variety, “The Democratic Party of Orange County passed an emergency resolution this week calling on the Orange County Board of Supervisors to change the name of John Wayne Airport.” The resolution “condemns John Wayne’s racist and bigoted statements,” calling him “white supremacist, anti-LGBT and anti-Indigenous.”
This anti-Wayne sentiment really started more than a year ago, based on a 1971 interview Wayne gave to Playboy Magazine where he came off as utterly bigoted towards African-Americans, Native-Americans, and homosexuals. Why was this interview dug up and outraged upon only 48 years after its published date? What’s the point of it resurfacing? Well, because we’re living in the era of “cancel culture” and even the dead are fair game in the eyes of social media hounds.
Regardless, these warriors for justice have found another historical Wayne monument to topple. Last year, we already had an L.A. Times writer calling for Wayne’s name to be stripped off of Orange County Airport, then USC students wanted a USC School of Cinematic Arts Wayne exhibit canceled.
What’s next? “The Searchers” being banned from every streaming platform and taken off blu-ray shelves?