“Well, there are some things a man just can’t run away from." — John Wayne as Ringo
“Well, there are some things a man just can’t run away from." — John Wayne as Ringo Kid in "Stagecoach" Apparently, that means his own words. That line from a 1939 movie John Wayne starred in came to fruition as a commemoration for The Duke was shot down. A lawmaker from Huntington Beach had proposed making May 26, 2016, "John Wayne Day.” Why did the Assembly vote against it? The actor’s comments on race. In particular, he said in a 1971 Playboy interview that he supported white supremacy “until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility. And when it came to how the West was “won,” he said, “the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.”Why would we celebrate John Wayne here in California anyway? Well, he was a hometown kid, raised in Glendale. He also got a scholarship to play football at the University of Southern California. But Hollywood came calling. He starred in dozens of westerns before his death in 1979. Throughout his long career, he came to epitomize for many the “cowboy values of decency, honesty, and integrity,” as History.com put it. But time tends to shade in those previously enduring black-and-white images and attitudes of old with nuance and complexity. The guy who introduced the legislation was certainly disappointed. He called it “political correctness” prevailing over a “profoundly American figure.” “Opposing the John Wayne Day resolution is like opposing apple pie, fireworks, baseball, the Free Enterprise system and the Fourth of July!”As John Wayne said in “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance": "Whoa, take ‘er easy there, Pilgrim.“ – @mmaltaislaPhotos by Los Angeles Times -- source link
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