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August 22, 2006
What's really behind the Andrew Young-Wal-Mart flap
This NY Times article reports on the flap over the recent remarks of Andrew Young, the colleague of Martin Luther King who went on to become the first black congressman from Georgia since Reconstruction and one of Atlanta's most prominent politicians.
Young had recently become a consultant for Wal-Mart, but that particular job didn't last long after Young was quoted during a recent interview "defending" Wal-Mart as not being so bad for black people because Jewish, Arab and Korean store owners had traditionally “ripped off” black neighborhoods by “selling us stale bread and bad meat and wilted vegetables.” Concluding that Young's defense of the company was faint praise, Wal-Mart understandably let him go.
As would be expected, the Times article focuses on the angst that Young's remarks has generated among the folks who are preoccupied with race relations, but Larry Ribstein observes the much more troubling dynamic that is truly behind Young's remarks:
I don't believe civil rights hero Young is a bigot. But unfortunately the bigoted nature of his remarks will draw attention from the real prejudice here -- against capitalism. It's really all about people who want to make a profit, and those who insist that this is a zero sum game that has to be ripping off the customers.The result of this attitude is anti-Wal-Mart laws like the one coming up in Chicago that hurt the very people Young fought to defend. Even when hired to defend Wal-Mart, Young couldn't resist bashing it, and others who tried to make a buck.
Meanwhile, along the same lines, Jeff Matthews analyzes Senator Joe Biden's recent anti-Wal-Mart remarks and how they reveal the leadership void within the Democratic Party. Check it out.
Update: The always-insightful Holman Jenkins of the Wall Street Journal chimes in with this column ($) echoing the same thoughts and more.
Posted by Tom at August 22, 2006 05:40 AM
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