In the latest move to change place names in light of U.S. racial history, leaders of Orange County's Democratic Party are pushing to drop film legend John Wayne's name from the county's airport because of his racist and bigoted comments.
The Los Angeles Times reported that officials passed an emergency resolution condemning Wayne's "racist and bigoted statements" made in a 1971 interview and are calling on the Orange County Board of Supervisors to drop his name, statue and other likenesses from the international airport and restoring the original name: Orange County Airport.
"There have been past efforts to get this done and now we're putting our name and our backing into this to make sure there is a name change," said Ada Briceño, chair of the Democratic Party of Orange County.
According to those who crafted the resolution, the effort to oust Wayne, who died in 1979, is part of "a national movement to remove white supremacist symbols and names [that are] reshaping American institutions, monuments, businesses, nonprofits, sports leagues and teams." In a 1971 Playboy magazine interview, Wayne makes bigoted statements against black people, Native Americans and the LGBTQ community.
"I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility," he said.
He also said he felt no remorse in the subjugation of Native Americans. "I don't feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them. …[O]ur so-called stealing of this country from them was just a matter of survival," he said. "There were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves."
T.I. to teach at Clark Atlanta University
Atlanta rapper T.I. will soon be adding educator to his résumé. T.I will join hip-hop scholar Dr. Melva K. Williams at Clark Atlanta University this fall to teach the "Business of Trap Music," news outlets reported. The course will focus on the origin, culture and business of trap music, a subgenre of hip-hop, according to the university. T.I., also known as Clifford Harris, said he's excited to work with Atlanta's historically black colleges and universities, and their "innovative approach." These schools have been vital in the community "and have managed to withstand even while being some of the most under-resourced institutions," he said.
Failure to disclose: A U.K. High Court judge ruled Monday that actor Johnny Depp violated a court order by failing to disclose evidence relating to his drug use to lawyers for British tabloid the Sun, which he is suing for libel. Judge Andrew Nicol deferred a decision on whether to throw out Depp's claim as a result. Depp is suing the newspaper's publisher, News Group Newspapers, and Executive Editor Dan Wootton over a 2018 article claiming the actor was violent and abusive to his ex-wife, Amber Heard. The trial is due to open at the High Court in London on July 7.
