Jerry and I have had tough debates on trade and immigration in public.Yet Jerry has always been a gentleman to me.

As far as Walmart,

Atlantaman is right. If the store was run that poorly , than open up competition.

Also in LA a police group called CRASH got in trouble for racial profiling gangs. When the CRASH group stop racial profiling gangs violent crime went up 15 %..The point is you have a risk verse return on running any business.

And John K. – I don’t think that Andy should be supporting WalMart, I do have issues with them and their labor practices, but just because I think he has a point about the stores that operate in ghettos does not mean I support his overall intiative with WalMart.

And who determines a fair price…are you advocating some sort of central planning office?

The thing is groceries are a high volume, low margin business. So if you open a store in an area that Kroger and Publix are unwilling to enter then it’s probably lower volume. You’ve then got to amortize your overhead into lower volume, which means higher prices. Why would you be upset with the people who actually open the store in the area, why not be upset with the people who don’t open stores.

Melb-

If you are so quick to criticize the people who open stores in these higher risk areas then the only non-hypocritical thing for you to do would be to take your life savings and open a grocery store in that area. Since you’re so sure these folks are making too much profit off the poor people the business should be a no-brainer. You could offer the best of the best in produce and meats and offer the goods at the lowest prices in town. It such a good idea I can’t believe nobody else has thought of it. There would be lines out the door to enter your Utopian store.

Your upset about pricing and quality and not upset about Walmart using child slave labor,I do not get it. I ask Jerry at GALEO that I did not get how Senator Sam Z and Young can talk about civil rights and be spokesmen for a company that promotes child and slave labor like Walmart.

And, what will Mark Taylor do for those livcing in those ghettos? What plan does he have?

I thought this was America, which all about the free-market. Because an entrepreneur had the drive to open a store where others were afraid to open one and the place doesn’t look like Whole Foods, he’s somehow the bad guy and is taking advantage of blacks.

It really is sad, the folks whether Jewish or some other ethnic minority are the ones who are crucified when they were the only ones respectful enough to open a store in their community in the first place.

Shouldn’t we be bashing the folks who don’t think enough of the communities to even consider opening a store?

At this point to really show contrition, Mr. Young should take $2 million of his own money and open up an upscale Grocery store in the poorest section of Atlanta. He can call Andy’s Fresh Produce and Market. Mark Taylor and Andy Young could work the night shift a couple of times without security to show that they are truly sorry.

Maybe Andy Young, rather than merely apologizing for his statements, should look at WHY blacks don’t have any interest in operating merchant stores in “their own neighorhoods” while other people (who are naive about what happens in lower-class urban neighborhoods) do, but have to charge higher prices for the threats against them?

OH! But wait…such logical thinking might require Andy Young to use his freakin’ brain rather than looking for ways to play the race or the left-wing card. (Banging head on desk repeatedly)…

Beating Perdue will be a huge challenge, and if i were to put money on it, I would give the odds to Perdue, but I will be damned if I will count Taylor out. He has yet to go on TV, and looking at his past ads, I have to say he will give Perdue a pretty good lashing. And Sonny has given us dems plenty of ammo.

Check the latest poll numbers and weep!

Yes, I agree, but it could and should be along the lines of non-fiction. Mark Taylor gives us “once upon a time” fiction.

Politics is theater. Get over it.

Its about getting votes people, and if you think that Taylor would get more votes by dumping Amb. Young, then you need to go back to school. In fact, I think this can almost be spun as a positive. Taylor gets to keep his high profile supporter, who is arguably the most prominent AA in the state, and gets to make high profile outreach to the Jewish community. Look at today’s ap article:

“Mark Taylor called me today and was sorry,” Sherry Frank, executive director of the Atlanta Jewish Committee told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Mark was expressing his concern for anything that was hurtful to the Jewish community.

“I appreciated his comments. And we also both agreed that Andy Young has a very admirable history of building bridges and this was unfortunate and he has apologized and we are moving on.”
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/local/15332990.htm

Yes, it is damage control, but without it, Taylor would not have the same opportunity to reach the Jewish community that he now has.

You right on target !!!!