Should a Racist Actor Have an Airport Named After Him?
Jackie Reddy October 01, 2019
He may have been one of the biggest stars of his era, but it’s being debated by news outlets in California if keeping John Wayne’s connection with John Wayne Airport (SNA) is still appropriate, given his outspokenly racist views. Despite this questioning, no change of name appears to be forthcoming.
John Wayne will forever be an iconic star of the Western film genre, but, there has been some debate about if–given the actor’s known views on race and sexual orientation–it’s still appropriate to keep his name attached to John Wayne Airport (SNA) in Orange County.
The question was first broached in a Los Angeles Times op-ed back in February of this year, which led to a second article by Orange County Register columnist David Whiting late last month. Today, the San Francisco Gate, based a few hundred miles away from the Los Angeles-adjacent airport was the third voice to chime in and ask if John Wayne Airport should be renamed.
They are all referring to a now-infamous interview given by John Wayne to Playboy in 1971 in which he calls the 1969 movie Midnight Cowboy perverted because it’s “a story about two f—,” condones white supremacy “until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility,” and says that he doesn’t feel like the “so-called stealing” of Native American land was wrong because “the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.” And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. If you want to read on, you can do so here but be warned, it contains a lot of hot takes.
In his Orange County Register article, Whiting acknowledges that Wayne was a “complicated” and “complex” person. “But,” he added, “when it comes to plastering someone’s name on an international airport that sees nearly 1 million passengers a month, there must be careful, considered and continued thought.
“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.
“For many people, it’s worse. Being forced to buy and carry around an airline ticket that unavoidably honors someone’s racism is an insult,” he explained.
But as the SFGATE reports, despite the on-going concerns over the airport’s name, there are no signs that authorities at the facility are considering a renaming.
I think that a DEAD actor who lived in a totally different time (as millions of others did) should not be held accountable for what was going on then and yes, should have (retain) an airport named after him.
Did John Wayne actually violate civil rights laws. If not, this is a free speech country and If we backtrack and review comments make decades ago, won't this, eventually lead to some reticent to exercise free speech today? Were not pro-athletes of the era complicit by playing in an all-white, no gay league? Do we require that autos from the 60's still on the raod be retrofitted with airbags today? It was a different era and different attitude.
How about ending naming airports after the cities they are in because the cities' namesakes are always associated with something? Santa Ana and San Francisco are both associated with a religious organization that was involved in the Inquisitions and pedophile issues. And what's wrong with using longitude and latitude of any airport you want to use instead of a name? Until you realize that longitude and latitude have their origins at Greenwich and therefore the megalomaniacal conquests of an empire? And what about your own name?
We need to show more compassion to the victims on the receiving end of his comments. Here's a little story....About twenty years ago I visited the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, in Washington D.C. At that time it housed 'Enola Gay' the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber that bombed hiroshima. Surprisingly the plane was displayed towards the back of the museum. During that visit, while talking with a local, I learnt that it used to be displayed at the front, but many Japanese tourists visiting the museum had become very emotional when they saw this monstrosity right at the entrance. I guess what I'm saying is, don't forget the past, but don't also forget the people (living now) that were affected by the past. They don't need to be reminded of our misdemeanors.
@Crazy Dave: More real than some twitter accounts.