Andrew Young: Anti-Semitic? and sober!

[Spackling Compound]

Well, I think they should; they ran the `mom and pop' stores out of my neighborhood," the paper quoted Young as saying. "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."
That quote is from Andrew Young concerning the role of the "mom and pop" stores in urban American areas.
Young was on the board of Wal Mart but stepped down due to those comments being misread or misunderstood as racist.

Is Mel Gibson too far behind?


http://articles.news.aol.com/business/_a/andrew-young-resigns-from-wal-mart-post/20060818040609990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Well, I think they should; they ran the `mom and pop' stores out of my neighborhood," the paper quoted Young as saying. "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."
That quote is from Andrew Young concerning the role of the "mom and pop" stores in urban American areas.
Young was on the board of Wal Mart but stepped down due to those comments being misread or misunderstood as racist.

Is Mel Gibson too far behind?


http://articles.news.aol.com/business/_a/andrew-young-resigns-from-wal-mart-post/20060818040609990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001


Gibson was at least drunk when his comments happened.

[jessecuster3]

My favorite part of this story is Wal-mart saying he "resigned voluntarily".

Voluntarily my ass !

[Haunt]

Well, I think they should; they ran the `mom and pop' stores out of my neighborhood," the paper quoted Young as saying. "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."
That quote is from Andrew Young concerning the role of the "mom and pop" stores in urban American areas.
Young was on the board of Wal Mart but stepped down due to those comments being misread or misunderstood as racist.

Is Mel Gibson too far behind?


http://articles.news.aol.com/business/_a/andrew-young-resigns-from-wal-mart-post/20060818040609990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001


uhh, he mentioned Koreans and Arabs, as well. why was this thread only about anti-semitism? and if he's talking about his own experience, who is to say that he wasn't sold bad meat or wilted vegetables? there are stores who cut corners.

[Count Vertigo]

Racist? No. Realistic. I live in Flushing (a huge city in NY that encompasses a huge part of the borough of Queens which is bigger than Manhattan to some degree) which is predominantly Chinese (in the north part) and Jewish (southern, past the Horace Harding Expressway) and I see a wide array of storeowner cutting corners, gouging prices and showing favoritism (spelling?).

Too many people nowadays are too quick to jump on the bandwagon of yelling racism for the sake of the press etc.

[jessecuster3]

Racist? No. Realistic. I live in Flushing (a huge city in NY that encompasses a huge part of the borough of Queens which is bigger than Manhattan to some degree) which is predominantly Chinese (in the north part) and Jewish (southern, past the Horace Harding Expressway) and I see a wide array of storeowner cutting corners, gouging prices and showing favoritism (spelling?).

Too many people nowadays are too quick to jump on the bandwagon of yelling racism for the sake of the press etc.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0671723650.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

[Count Vertigo]

*shrug* Maybe I just don't care or I'm jaded. Whatever. I don't see Young as being racist. I'm spanish/italian/jewish. I've had my fair share of problems

[Smoogis]

Racist? No. Realistic. I live in Flushing (a huge city in NY that encompasses a huge part of the borough of Queens which is bigger than Manhattan to some degree) which is predominantly Chinese (in the north part) and Jewish (southern, past the Horace Harding Expressway) and I see a wide array of storeowner cutting corners, gouging prices and showing favoritism (spelling?).

Too many people nowadays are too quick to jump on the bandwagon of yelling racism for the sake of the press etc.

That's called people being assholes. There are, indeed, assholes of every shape , size, and color. (Shut up.) The fact that some store owners cut corners, gouge prices, and show favoritism does not mean its because they are of a certain ethnicity or religion or race or shoe size.

Saying, however, that an entire race of people are responsible for bad business, is racism.

[Count Vertigo]

If young used some slurs in his statement, then I can see the need to call him a racist.

[Adam Crocker]

If young used some slurs in his statement, then I can see the need to call him a racist.

How is blaming ethnic/national groups for price gouging and offering poor quality merchandise not racist? And while complaining that enough blacks own these stores no less?

[Haunt]

How is blaming ethnic/national groups for price gouging and offering poor quality merchandise not racist? And while complaining that enough blacks own these stores no less?

c'mon. he's probably talking about a black neighborhood where you might expect to see black owned businesses.

[Iangould]

c'mon. he's probably talking about a black neighborhood where you might expect to see black owned businesses.

Seing as he was on the board of Wal-Mart he was probably responding to complaints about Walmart driving small local stores out of business so you're probably right.

[Drew Van T.]

In other words, he doesn't like the "urban stores", no sir.

It's a pity he didn't stay on, though. He seems like an appropriate figurehead for a company like Walmart, giving it the kind of publicity it deserves.

[cactusmaac]

How is blaming ethnic/national groups for price gouging and offering poor quality merchandise not racist? And while complaining that enough blacks own these stores no less?

There might be a racial tinge to his argument, but it seems a somewhat weak one. He isn't saying Jews\Koreans\Arabs are dishonest and offer poor service by nature but the storeowners he encountered were and did.

[Dan Apodaca]

Once again, like with John Byrne, it doesn't really matter whether it's technically "racist" or not, because it's phrased in such a way as to take on a offensive tone.

Don't let these people get you tangled in their semantics. That's how they slip out of trouble.

[Adam Crocker]

There might be a racial tinge to his argument, but it seems a somewhat weak one. He isn't saying Jews\Koreans\Arabs are dishonest and offer poor service by nature but the storeowners he encountered were and did.

To quote:

"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."

Really, it sounds like he's blaming entire ethnic/national groups for ripping off black people. Moreover, why single out the ethnicity/nationality of the store owners like this in the first place?

[cactusmaac]

I thought he was speaking about mon-and-pop stores, not entire races.

As for mentioining the ethnicity, he's highlighting that black areas typically don't get served by black shopkeepers.

[Dan Apodaca]

I thought he was speaking about mon-and-pop stores, not entire races.

As for mentioining the ethnicity, he's highlighting that black areas typically don't get served by black shopkeepers.

No, read the quote again. He's saying that those areas get "ripped off" by Jews, Koreans, and Arabs.

[Adam Crocker]

No, read the quote again. He's saying that those areas get "ripped off" by Jews, Koreans, and Arabs.

Exactly. He said the Mom and Pop stores rip off black areas because they are run by Jews, Koreans, and Arabs. It's pretty plan, and if that's not what he intended to say, man did he put his foot in it.

[cactusmaac]

Err, yes. He was talking about Jewish, Arabian and Korean shopkeepers.

Jewish shopkeeper != Jewish race

[Dan Apodaca]

Err, yes. He was talking about Jewish, Arabian and Korean shopkeepers.

Jewish shopkeeper != Jewish race

It doesn't matter. It's a generalization of people based on their ethnicities.

[cactusmaac]

He said mom-and-pop stores generally sucked. And they were run by Jews, Arabs and Koreans. Seems like he's saying the suckage is independent of the race of the storeowner.

[Dan Apodaca]

He said mom-and-pop stores generally sucked. And they were run by Jews, Arabs and Koreans. Seems like he's saying the suckage is independent of the race of the storeowner.

No. He said that they "ripped off" their communities. And then clarified his point by saying that the "they" he was talking about specifically meant Jews, Koreans, and Arabs.

That's what he said.

[K'Nort]

If he wasn't trying to be racist, he could have just said non-black storeowners. Which should have been the real point. I guess it's just a heck of a coincidence that he threw in the two biggest racial targets in the black community. I sure as hell wouldn't know if a storekeeper was specifically Jewish or Korean, even if I could tell they were some sort of white or Asian, etc.

[Adam Crocker]

He said mom-and-pop stores generally sucked. And they were run by Jews, Arabs and Koreans. Seems like he's saying the suckage is independent of the race of the storeowner.

Not from here it doesn't. It seems like he's saying that the storeowners are out to rip people off because they are Jews, Arabs, or Koreans. Frankly I don't see how the intent could be clearer short of hurling racial slurs.

[Iangould]

Not from here it doesn't. It seems like he's saying that the storeowners are out to rip people off because they are Jews, Arabs, or Koreans. Frankly I don't see how the intent could be clearer short of hurling racial slurs.

You know Adam disagreeing with you is usually a mistake because your'e almost invariably correct but in this instance I think you are msitaken. He was pointing out that the shopkeepers were "Jews, Koreans and arabs" to support his point that the local black community wasn't benefiting from those businesses.