John Wayne's heroism was fake. Take his name off Orange County's airport
This is not as momentous an issue as tearing down monuments to Confederates who took up arms against the United States, removing the Confederate stars and bars from state flags, or striking the names of racists from universities, but, yes: Its time to get John Waynes name off the Orange County airport.
Thats the view of the Democratic Party of Orange County, which passed a resolution to that effect on June 26.
An airport name should reflect our values, and white supremacy isnt one of them, party Chair Ada Briceño stated after the vote. If an honorary name does not reflect our ideals and values anymore, why not change it?
The movement to take Waynes name off an airport that it has adorned since 1979 last erupted in February 2019. That was in the wake of the rediscovery of an interview that the action movie star had given to Playboy in May 1971. I reported then that the interview bristled with Waynes contempt for Black people, Native Americans, gay people, and those he labeled leftists, socialists, and communists.
The movement to rename the airport went dormant for more than a year. It has become revived with the Black Lives Matter movement and the nationwide reconsideration of which figures from American history we choose to honor in bronze and granite. For some reason, some Republicans are standing firm against this reconsideration.
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-07-01/john-wayne-airport
Renaming the airport for John Wayne was a big "fuck you" to liberal California, just as renaming Washington National after Reagan was to liberal America. Republicans manufactured Reagan as some hero to counteract the country's reverence of FDR.