Some students at the University of Southern California are pushing the university to remove an exhibit celebrating one if its famous alumni.
Student activists at the California school are pushing to ban the Wayne Collection exhibit that celebrates the life and career of actor John Wayne. The actor, who died in 1979, should not be celebrated at the college because of his history of racist and bigoted comments, the students say.
USC’s School of Cinematic Arts will decide whether or not to keep the exhibit by the end of the semester, according to USC’s Daily Trojan.
Many of Wayne’s controversial comments go back to a 1971 interview the actor did with Playboy.
“I believe in white supremacy,” Wayne said during the interview. “We can’t all of a sudden get down on our knees and turn everything over to the leadership of the blacks.
“I don’t believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people,” he added.
Wayne also said he did not feel guilty over slavery that took place in the United States long before his lifetime or for U.S. forces expanding the country by conquering Native American tribes.
“I don’t feel guilty about the fact that five or 10 generations ago these people were slaves,” Wayne said. “Now, I’m not condoning slavery. It’s just a fact of life, like the kid who gets infantile paralysis and has to wear braces so he can’t play football with the rest of us.”
Some students at USC, however, are defending the actor by arguing that focusing on those comments is doing a disservice to the actor’s life and legacy.
“Wayne made terrible and condemnable comments … but [that] is not what he is known for,” a USC student told the Daily Trojan. “I think there are many positive elements of John Wayne and looking at a figure historically, you have to look at the negative sides and point them out, and I think we should definitely do that, but I also think that he is a net positive figure.”
