John Wayne Was A Homophobic Racist?

If you were to ask me who my dad's favorite actor of all-time is, there is no doubt of my answer:  John Wayne.

To hear him say it, "The Duke" won WWII on-screen almost single-handedly.  For his generation of baby boomers, John Wayne represented everything that being a man was.

Wayne died nearly 40 years ago at age 72.

Orange County Airport was renamed "John Wayne Airport," as tribute, just after his death in 1979.

Now, an interview he did with Playboy 8 years earlier (1971) is causing a major controversy.  In the piece he says he believed in “white supremacy,” at least until "irresponsible" black people became more educated, and that Native Americans were “selfishly” trying to keep their land.

When asked which films he considered perverted, Wayne listed 1969’s “Easy Rider” and “Midnight Cowboy,” before using anti-gay slurs in further discussing the films.

Look, I'm not saying what Wayne said was not stunningly racist and homophobic-it was.

However, Wayne's interview in 1971 was eight years old when the airport was named for him.  No one said anything then.  It's been operating under that name for nearly four decades...and NOW it's a problem?

Again, I am not condoning his words or thoughts.

I just advise caution against judging people and actions in history through a modern prism.  If you open that can of worms, you might not like what you might find, or have to say/do.

My favorite example of this?  George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were slave owners.

Let me repeat that in a different way, HALF OF MT. RUSHMORE OWNED SLAVES.

Should we sand-blast their faces off the monument?  Does it make them lesser patriots for our country?

Perhaps it does for you.  Not for me.

Should they change the name of the airport?