Andrew Young Slaps Jews, Koreans, and Arabs! (exodus, minority, mission)

[Sunstone]

Looks like the former mayor of Atlanta, Andrew Young, has lashed out against Jews, Koreans and Arabs for ripping off the Black community with their mom and pop stores. As a consequence, he has resigned his position with Wal Mart. Check out the full story here: http://jspot.org/?p=520#comments

Do you think Andrew Young was right to say that mom and pop stores owned by Jews, Koreans, and Arabs have ripped off the Black community?

Do you suppose that Young's remarks might have been motivated by his paid affiliation with Wal Mart?

[michel]

I don't know about in the States, but here

Jewish, Arab and Korean shop owners had “ripped off” urban communities for years, “selling us stale bread, and bad meat and wilted vegetables.”

is certainly not the case.

We have many ethnic minority groups locally, and the foodstuffs they sell is good. There are a couple of shops run by Arabs locally that stock delicious items that one would never find in a supermarket. I would miss them if they were to go.

[jamaesi]

Do you suppose that Young's remarks might have been motivated by his paid affiliation with Wal Mart?

Does anything further really need said?

[evearael]

Well, that is the most blatantly bigoted thing I've read today and, as jspot's response noted, his 'solution' is without merit because Walmart does not pay a living wage or give many benefits. It appears he is only xenophobic with small businesses, which is absurd because the capital is more likely to stay closer to the community with small businesses rather than getting siphoned off to line the CEO's pocket in another state.

[Rejected]

I've pretty much lost all respect for Georgian politicians.
If thats not enough for you, try these out:

Gov Purdue implements a 762 Million dollar tax hike:
http://www.nationalreview.com/moore/moore012303.asp

Albany, GA City Commissioner found guilty of extortion:
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/gam/press_...05/050610.html

GA Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney assaults a police officer, blames it on the cop being racist:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/03/31/mckinney.police/

The notoriuos Bill Campbell:
http://www.adversity.net/citysetasid...a_campbell.htm

[CaptainXeroid]

As a metro Atlanta resident, I feel like I should come to Andy's defense...sort of.

I think his words come more out of frustration than from an 'obligation' to Wal-Mart. From his viewpoint, and I've heard this from many black leaders, they don't think it's fair that some of these 'immigrants' are new to this country and are able to get small business loans to open these mom-n-pop stores while many black entrepreneurs have been denied.

I think, and this is just my opinion, that he is equally as frustrated with people in the black community who choose to rob and vandalize businesses. The perception that certain areas of town were unsafe led to an exodus of businesses and jobs creating the vaccuum that these mom-n-pop stores filled.

Please note...I am not defending Young's words. He has spent a lifetime buildling bridges among peoples, and I'd hate to see him lose all credibility over them. Sometimes, even the most experienced public speaker can get 'caught up in the moment' and speak to his crowd with words he would not dream of using in front of a more general audience.

[MidnightBlue]

Originally Posted by Sunstone

Do you think Andrew Young was right to say that mom and pop stores owned by Jews, Koreans, and Arabs have ripped off the Black community?

No, but I do think that perception is common, partly because prices in small retail stores are necessarily higher than prices in big-box stores like Wal-Mart.

Originally Posted by Sunstone

Do you suppose that Young's remarks might have been motivated by his paid affiliation with Wal Mart?

I do, and I think his retraction and resignation amount to too little, too late. What was he doing shilling for Wal-Mart in the first place?

[Victor]

If mom and pop shops had the resources and man power that Walmart does, would it have to price things as they did? I don't think they would.

On the other hand, from my experience Mexican owned mom and pop shops have low prices. Why the difference?

[Capt. Haddock]

I can see about the Arabs and Koreans, but are there still many Jews running mom and pop shops in the Atlanta ghettoes?

Having overpriced Korean shops is still better than having no shops.

The problem here is not the Koreans who open shops, it's that the major national retail chains don't want to set up in inner city areas.

There are a lot of groups trying to reverse that trend and set up incentives for banks, supermarkets, etc. to relocate to the inner city. I think Magic Johnson is very involved in this.

Living in the city, I have seen how poor urban folks tend to pay a lot more for stuff than wealthy folk out in the suburbs.