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AFRICA FEST 2006: Saturday, August 26 @ Warner Park
Join African Association of Madison, Inc. for $25 per year
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Not to excuse him, but Andrew Young has always been provocative--even
when he was young-er. Recall the scandal he caused at the UN (he was
Jimmy Carter's Ambassador there)when he said the British were the most
racist people in the world. A few Africans agreed then.
AS
Aliko SONGOLO <[log in to unmask]>
Professor
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- Dept. of French & Italian (Chair)
- Dept. of African Languages & Literature
Van Hise Hall
University of Wisconsin
1220 Linden Drive
Madison, WI 53706
Fr&It 608-262-5937,-3941,265-3892(fax)
AL&L 608-263-3891,2-2487,265-4151(fax)
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----- Original Message -----
From: Sam Jimba <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Monday, August 21, 2006 1:43 pm
Subject: Re: Wal-Mart envoy quits after racist remarks
To: [log in to unmask]
> *****************************************************************
>
> AFRICA FEST 2006: Saturday, August 26 @ Warner Park
>
> Join African Association of Madison, Inc. for $25 per year
>
> Mail check to; AAM, PO Box 1016, Madison, WI 53701,
> 608-258-0261, [log in to unmask],
> www.AfricanAssociation.org
>
> *****************************************************************
>
>
> You might also think, at the age of 74, he should now change his
> name from Andrew Young to Andrew Old.
>
> > Wal-Mart envoy quits after racist remarks
> >
> > By Michael Barbaro and Steven Greenhouse The New York Times
> > SATURDAY, AUGUST 19, 2006
> >
> > Andrew Young, the American civil rights leader who was hired by
> > Wal- Mart Stores to improve its public image, has resigned from
> > that post after telling an African-American newspaper that
> Jewish,
> > Arab and Korean shop owners had "ripped off" urban communities
> for
> > years, "selling us stale bread, and bad meat and wilted
> vegetables."
> >
> > In the interview, published Thursday in The Los Angeles
> > Sentinel, a weekly, Young said Wal-Mart should displace mom-and-
> > pop stores in urban neighborhoods.
> >
> > "You see those are the people who have been overcharging us," he
> > said of the owners of the small stores, "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."
> >
> > Young, 74, a former mayor of Atlanta and a former U.S.
> > representative at the United Nations, apologized for the comments
> > and retracted them in an interview late Thursday. Less than an
> > hour later, he resigned as chairman of Working Families for Wal-
> > Mart, a group created and financed by the company to trumpet its
> > accomplishments.
> > "It's against everything I ever thought in my life," Young said.
> > "It never should have been said. I was speaking in the context of
> > Atlanta, and that does not work in New York or Los Angeles."
> >
> > His remarks drew forceful condemnation from Arab, Jewish and
> > Asian leaders.
> > The national director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham
> > Foxman, called the comments "very hurtful."
> >
> > "The sad part," he said, is that "even people of color and even
> > minorities who suffered discrimination and prejudice are not
> > immune from being bigoted and racist and even anti-Semitic."
> >
> > In the six months that Young was under contract with the Wal-
> > Mart-financed group, he traveled the country promoting the
> > retailer, meeting with community groups and writing opinion
> pieces
> > for local newspapers.
> >
> > "I am more of a spokesman than the chairman of Wal-Mart," he
> > remarked, referring to his work on behalf of the company.
> >
> > Wal-Mart executives moved quickly Thursday to distance
> > themselves from Young's remarks. "Ambassador Young's comments do
> > not reflect our feelings toward the Jewish, Asian or Arab
> > communities or any other diverse group," said a company
> > spokeswoman, Mona Williams.
> >
> > "Needless to say, we were appalled when the comments came to our
> > attention," Williams said. "We were also dismayed that they would
> > come from someone who has worked so hard for so many years for
> > equal rights in this country. Ambassador Young has done the right
> > thing to apologize and to ask for a retraction. We also support
> > his decision to resign."
> >
> > Margaret Fung, executive director of the Asian American Legal
> > Defense and Education Fund, said, "Andrew Young should know
> better
> > than to resort to derogatory ethnic stereotypes about Korean
> store
> > owners in black neighborhoods."
> >
> > Khaled Lamada, former president of the Arab Muslim American
> > Federation and currently director of outreach for the Muslim
> > American Society, said that Young's statements were "not fair"
> and
> > that they "shame" the Muslim community.
> >
> > Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal
> > Center in Los Angeles, said, "These are stereotypical remarks
> that
> > any leader of the civil rights movement should run away from
> > rather than utter."
> >
> > Explaining his comments about Koreans, Jews and Arabs, Young
> > said he was referring to the history of retail ownership in the
> > neighborhood where he lives in southwestern Atlanta.
> >
> > "Almost everyone who has come into my community has moved in,
> > made money and moved out and moved up," he said. "That process is
> > still continuing."
> >
> > Over the last two years, Wal-Mart efforts to open stores in Los
> > Angeles, Chicago and New York have been blocked by community
> > opposition. Because of Young's background, Wal- Mart had looked
> to
> > him to ease its entry into such cities.
> >
> > "The only thing I can do," Young said Thursday before he
> > resigned, "is to ask that people judge me about a life of working
> > together with people who are different and bringing people
> > together without violence and without rancor. I would hope that
> > would count for something."
> >
> > -----------------------------------------------------------------
> > ---------------
> > Copyright © 2006 The International Herald Tribune | www.iht.com
> >
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