Head of Wal-Mart Group (Andrew Young) Resigns, Cites Own Demagogic Remarks

[DeepModem Mom]

LAT: Head of Wal-Mart Group Resigns, Citing Own 'Demagogic' Remarks
By Abigail Goldman, Times Staff Writer
August 17, 2006

Andrew Young, the former United Nations ambassador and mayor of Atlanta, said Thursday that he intended to resign as head of a Wal-Mart advocacy group after the publication of what he later called "demagogic" remarks about Jewish-, Asian- and Arab-owned businesses that are displaced when giant Wal-Mart stores open in black neighborhoods.

"I'm sorry. I understand I've created a whole firestorm out there," Young said in an interview from his Atlanta home Thursday night. "It's unfortunate and I should not have said it and I apologize for it. It has not been my experience or my meaning."

In an interview published in Thursday's Los Angeles Sentinel, Young was asked about Wal-Mart shuttering mom-and-pop stores.

"Well, I think they should; they ran the 'mom and pop' stores out of my neighborhood," the Sentinel 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."...

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-young18aug18,0,3308959.story?coll=la-home-headlines