John Wayne was a celebrated actor amidst fans in the ’70s. He is well remembered for his cowboy hats, Marlboro Reds and so on. But the recent buzz is that his past controversial statement in 1971 has popped up again which has gone viral.
In his statement, he has used chauvinistic and homophobic words which have now made the John Wayne airport officials change the name as it has sent shockwaves around the country. The airport is situated in Orange County.
Commenting on this David Whiting the Orange County Register said that: “What was OK in 1978 when supervisors named JWA [John Wayne airport] is not necessarily OK in today’s world – and perhaps it never should have been acceptable.” “When I drive by or fly out of John Wayne airport, a place most of us simply refer to as ‘John Wayne’, I don’t always think about the actor and his dark statements. But when I do, I am troubled.”
He went on to add that: “The idea of renaming an airport because of a namesake’s controversial political views might have seemed far-fetched a decade ago, but not anymore.”
Till today John Wayne’s greatness has etched a good name in American history. John has starred over 70 movies and has been a recipient of “Congressional Gold Medal and a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom.”
Further, several places have been named after John such as an “elementary school in Brooklyn, a Marina in Washington, a highway in central Arizona and a park in Newport Beach.”
Wayne had stated in a popular magazine that: “I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility,” and “I don’t believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people.”
David also stated that: “For many years, I have been troubled with the decision to name an airport after John Wayne because of his bigoted views on African Americans, the LGBT+ community and Native Americans.”
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