John Wayne: “I Believe In White Supremacy”

The media is going crazy with faux outrage over this:

“Wayne was also asked about educator/activist Angela Davis and discrimination. He responded, “With a lot of blacks, there’s quite a bit of resentment along with their dissent, and possibly rightfully so. But we can’t all of a sudden get down on our knees and turn everything over to the leadership of the blacks. I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility. I don’t believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people.”

Lewis then shot back at Wayne, asking if the actor was equipped to judge “which blacks are irresponsible and which of their leaders inexperienced.” Wayne responded, “It’s not judgment. The academic community has developed certain tests that determine whether the blacks are sufficiently equipped scholastically. But some blacks have tried to force the issue and enter college when they haven’t passed the tests and don’t have the requisite background.”

“I don’t know why people insist that blacks have been forbidden their right to go to school,” continued Wayne. “They were allowed in public schools wherever I’ve been. Even if they don’t have the proper credentials for college, there are courses to help them become eligible. But if they aren’t academically ready for the step, I don’t think they should be allowed in. Otherwise, the academic society is brought down to the lowest common denominator.

“… There has to be a standard. I don’t feel guilty about the fact that five or 10 generations ago these people were slaves. 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. I will say this, though: I think any black who can compete with a white today can get a better break than a white man. I wish they’d tell me where in the world they have it better than right here in America.” …

There is so much truth in these comments.

1.) First, Jim Crow was a Southern system of race relations, and most of America had been integrated for generations before segregation ended in the 1960s. W.E.B. DuBois, an early 20th century civil rights leader, graduated from Harvard in 1895.

2.) Second, John Wayne’s position was mainstream in the early 20th century. The British, for example, saw their African colonies as “trusteeships.” They were educating and civilizing black Africans to prepare them for eventual independence. The famous African explorer David Livingstone summed it up in his formula: Christianity, commerce, civilization. Rudyard Kipling called it “The White Man’s Burden.” British colonialism in Africa was more paternalistic than malicious. In fact, the British dealt with the Boers more ruthlessly than any African tribe.

3.) Third, the mainstream consensus used to be that it was reckless and unwise to grant African colonies independence that were unprepared for it. Europeans in Africa abolished slavery and cannibalism. They introduced Christianity. They introduced air travel, railroads, electricity, hospitals, sanitation, public health measures against malaria within a span of less than 75 years, etc. They build modern cities like Leopoldville and Stanleyville in the Congo.

4.) Fourth, the early 20th century in Africa was a time of relative peace and rapid social and economic development in Africa, especially compared to Europe and East Asia which went through World War I and World War II. After World War II, the US and Soviet Union both embraced anti-imperialism in order to expand their spheres of influence in the Third World at the expense of the European powers. They wanted the British and French out of Africa so that they could move in.

5.) Fifth, the combination of decolonization, anti-racism, political correctness and independence led to disaster in nearly every country in sub-Saharan Africa. The only possible exception is Botswana which has wisely managed its wealth from diamond mining. Most African states were barely prepared for independence and even those that had developed a native intelligentsia and some degree of Western institutions like Ghana destroyed themselves pursuing Afrocentric Marxism. Thrusting independence on African states that were grossly unprepared for it created nothing but misery for the vast majority of several generations of Africans who ended up under “big men” like Mobutu and Mugabe.

6.) Sixth, the same thing had happened in Haiti and Liberia long before it overwhelmed the rest of sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean. It is worth noting that the states where “white supremacy” lasted the longest like Guadeloupe and Martinique or Barbados and South Africa led to a higher standard of living for blacks. Compare Haiti to Guadeloupe and Martinique.

7.) Finally, it eventually got so bad in sub-Saharan Africa that Europeans put a stop to the civil wars in Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and Liberia, tried to stop the clan violence in Somalia, split South Sudan from Sudan, intervened in Darfur, fed the Hutu refugees who fled from the Rwandan genocide, etc. Sub-Saharan Africa would be vastly better off today if it had remained under colonialism until it had become prosperous like Hong Kong.