Andrew Young has resigned from Working Families for Wal-Mart in the wake of a controversial statement.
“I recently made some comments about former store owners in my neighborhood that were completely and utterly inappropriate. Those comments run contrary to everything I have dedicated my life to,” Young said in a statement.
“I apologize for those comments. I retract those comments. And I ask for the forgiveness of those I have offended.”
Young said his comments “run contrary to everything that Wal-Mart is and means to communities.”
In an interview published in Thursday’s Los Angeles Sentinel, Young was asked to comment on whether he is concerned that Wal-Mart causes mom-and-pop stores to close.
“Well, I think they should; they ran the ‘mom and pop’ stores out of my neighborhood,” the Sentinel, a newspaper serving the African-American community, reported. “But you see, those are the people who have been overcharging us — selling us stale bread and bad meat and wilted vegetables. And they sold out and moved to Florida. I think they’ve ripped off our communities enough. First it was Jews, then it was Koreans and now it’s Arabs; very few black people own these stores.”
8 responses so far ↓
SpaceyG // Aug 18, 2006 at 9:03 am
Yep, being a ‘ho for Wal-Mart ain’t all it’s cracked-up to be. I’m not even on the payroll, and they astroturfed the crap outta me on their stupid, fake blog:
http://georgia.forwalmart.com/
A definition of astroturfing is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing
Mike Hauncho // Aug 18, 2006 at 9:06 am
Why should anyone believe that he really feels sorry for what he said? You can’t “retract those comments” and act as those it was an accident. Young spoke from the heart on that one and blamed everyone for it, except blacks. He has every right to say what he said but stop acting like it was a slip of the tounge and just stand behind what you say.
Jason // Aug 18, 2006 at 9:39 am
With Wal-Mart’s use of eminent domain aside. I don’t really have a problem with them.
SpaceyG // Aug 18, 2006 at 10:17 am
Andy got caught “playing church” - outside of church. The Blame Whitey (and now Jews, Koreans and Arabs) Rhetoric Game is a deeply-entrenched, hard-to-break habit. You’d think with Cynthia Mac losing so badly just a coupla weeks ago, that anyone and their daddy could now see that such ancient, worn-out rhetoric is just for losers.
atlantaman // Aug 18, 2006 at 11:08 am
“The Blame Whitey (and now Jews, Koreans and Arabs) Rhetoric Game is a deeply-entrenched, hard-to-break habit.”
Couldn’t agree with you more. It’s pretty much the only page in their election playbook. I’m constantly amazed at how anti-semitic the blacks can be after all the hard work and dedication from Jews during the civil rights movement.
I guess when you play the politics of blaming everyone else for your problems the Jews are an easy target since they’ve been getting blamed for the world’s problems during the last 1,000 years.
Jeff Emanuel // Aug 18, 2006 at 11:12 am
It’s closer to 3,000, Atl.
Peach Pundit » Taylor “sorry” for Young’s comments, but keeping him on staff // Aug 22, 2006 at 7:01 pm
[...] “Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor reached out to the Jewish community Monday, expressing regret over the inflammatory comments his campaign co-chairman — former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young — made recently about Jews, Koreans and Arabs,” the AJC reported today. “Mark Taylor called me today and was sorry,” Sherry Frank, executive director for the Atlanta chapter of the American Jewish Committee, said Monday. “Mark was expressing his concern for anything that was hurtful to the Jewish community. [...]
The Agony, Comeupance, and Learning Experience of Social Media Rage at infOpinions? // Oct 24, 2006 at 1:32 pm
[...] Andrew Young was with Working Families for Wal-Mart. (Follow that first link and you’ll see yet another reason why you shouldn’t trust Wikipedia, by the way.) Young stepped aside awhile back. Well, he may have actually been asked to leave - after this (Source). But, what if he hadn’t left? Would Young have shown greater interest in oversight of the Working Families for Wal-Mart projects? Do they not have any ownership in this story? [...]