As the Left pushes to rename the John Wayne Airport in California due to allegations of racism on Wayne’s part, the legendary actor’s son has spoken out against this effort, as reported by Fox News.
Ethan Wayne, president of John Wayne Enterprises, released a statement challenging the assertion that his father was a racist, saying “I know that term is casually tossed around these days, but I take it very seriously.”
The accusations stem from an interview Wayne gave to Playboy in 1971, where he allegedly said that he didn’t “believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people.” Ethan Wayne said that his father’s words “pained him well, as he realized his true feelings were wrongly conveyed.”
“Those who knew him,” the younger Wayne continued, “knew he judged everyone as an individual and believed everyone deserved an equal opportunity,” adding that his father “called out bigotry when he saw it” and “hired and worked with people of all races, creeds, and sexual orientations.”
The attempt to rename the John Wayne Airport in Orange County is the latest move by a nationwide far-left mob to destroy monuments and other symbols of American history, ranging from Confederate memorials to the iconic state flag of Mississippi. The move has garnered the support of the Orange County Democratic Party, which claimed that “Orange County is now a diverse region far different from the time when John Wayne was chosen as namesake for the airport.”