"My father was not a racist," swear Ethan Wayne, the son of the actor of countless westerns, the picture manly and macho, which is now in the crosshairs of the democrats of Orange county, California. They want to change their fields of activities the airport to his name located in south Los Angeles because of the old position of the star " in favour of white supremacy, anti-LGBT and anti-aboriginal ".
Its critics rely in particular on an old interview given at the beginning of the 1970s in Playboy that glue since the cowboy actor, died in 1979 : "I believe in white supremacy until the Blacks are not educated to the point of being able to exercise responsibilities ", he asserted, while stating that he felt that he was not " guilty of the fact that there are five or ten generations these people were slaves ". "Now, I do not condone slavery. "
John Wayne was the best for all of us.
His son Ethan is now acknowledged in a press release that said, fifty years ago, were clumsy and were able to cause " pain and anger ". "They have also made to suffer because he realized that his true feelings were poorly expressed. "According to him, John Wayne" believed that we can learn from the past, but without the shave ". It was in no way " white supremacy ", " he judged everyone as an individual and believed that everyone deserved his chance." And to add : "He has hired and worked with people of all races, creeds and sexual orientations. John Wayne was the best for all of us – a society that does not discriminate against those who are seeking the american dream. "
There is no doubt for him that his father would be today on the side of protesters, demanding the dismissal of police officers involved in the death of George Floyd : "It would be in the forefront to demand fairness and justice for all. It would defend the right of everyone to protest and work for change. "And to conclude :" It would be an injustice to judge him on the basis of a single interview, as opposed to the complete image that he really had. "
Trump up the niche
yet It is precisely this image which annoys both the elected democrats : John Wayne, the actor, trigger-happy, hero manichean of the hollywood industry of that time, patriot and conservative, and a time sensed by the republicans for the us presidency, who will turn later to Ronald Reagan... in Short, a statue ideal to rip down in the long list used today by anti-racists which are logically in the general southerners, but in which there is also Christopher Columbus and even our Holy king Louis – I had the same thought – who almost fell of his horse in the same Missouri town. It lacked a hollywood star to decapitate, it's done.
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The déboulonnage is it possible ? The case has largely spilled over into the political arena, Donald Trump, a fan of the actor, not being embarrassed to call this project " stupid ", while saying the democrats are " good for nothing ". The spokesperson of the airport, he denied any change for the time being, the county does not intend to remove the bronze statue of the actor... But how much of the time, the most famous cow-boy of America will he still be tolerable ?
