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Andrew Young steps down from Wal-Mart post
ap on Riverside Press Enterprise ^ | 8/17/06 | Bernard McGhee - ap

Posted on 08/17/2006 10:23:47 PM PDT by NormsRevenge

ATLANTA

Former Atlanta mayor and U.N. ambassador Andrew Young has stepped down from his position as head of Working Families for Wal-Mart, the longtime civil rights leader said early Friday.

Young was hired by the group in February to help improve Wal-Mart's image.

"I think I was on the verge of becoming part of the controversy, and I didn't want to become a distraction from the main issues, so I thought I ought to step down," Young told The Associated Press.

Young said his decision came after a report in the Los Angeles Sentinel, which he said was misread and misinterpreted.

In the Sentinel interview, Young was asked about whether he is concerned Wal-Mart causes smaller, mom-and-pop stores to close.

"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."

Young said he decided to end his involvement with Working Families for Wal-Mart after he started getting calls about the story.

"Things that are matter-of-fact in Atlanta, in the New York and Los Angeles environment, tend to be a lot more volatile," he said.

He said working with the group "was also taking more of my time that I thought."

Young came under fire from the civil rights community after his company, GoodWorks International, was hired by Working Families for Wal-Mart to promote the world's largest retailer. Young's company, which he has headed since 1997, works with corporations and governments to foster economic development in Africa and the Caribbean.

In an April letter to the General Synod of the United Church of Christ, Young said it was wrong for the church and others to blame Wal-Mart for world ills.

"I think we may have erred in not paying enough attention to the potentially positive role of business and the corporate multinational community in seeking solutions to the problems of the poor," Young wrote at that time.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Georgia
KEYWORDS: andrewyoung; stepsdown; walmart
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To: mewzilla

Thanks for that link.


21 posted on 08/18/2006 5:21:59 AM PDT by Graybeard58 (Remember and pray for SSgt. Matt Maupin - MIA/POW- Iraq since 04/09/04)
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To: Gabz

I'm making a Wal-Mart run today, too. I'll post my "Everything I Buy is Made in America" purchase list later. ;)

What an @ss this guy is! Hopefully this is a sign from Wal-Mart that they're going to stand and fight against the 'Rat infiltraters (infil-traitors?), as we've seen them start to do in a few other posts this week. :)


22 posted on 08/18/2006 6:21:21 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Ha Ha....

He should return all the money from this venture as well. He has very dirty hands......


23 posted on 08/18/2006 6:24:30 AM PDT by bert (K.E. N.P. Keep watch for the Mahdi...... he's coming on 22 August!!)
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To: NormsRevenge

Young should be ashamed of himself. American jews played significant roles in the civil rights movement.


24 posted on 08/18/2006 6:35:38 AM PDT by flying Elvis
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To: NormsRevenge
I'm sure Wal-Mart will be able to struggle along without Andy Young. Meanwhile you can be sure that the leftist establishment will find another lucrative affirmative action job for Ambassador Young.
25 posted on 08/18/2006 7:19:32 AM PDT by R.W.Ratikal
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To: NormsRevenge
From the NYT version:

In the interview, published yesterday in The Los Angeles Sentinel . . . . Mr. Young . . . apologized for the comments and retracted them in an interview last night. 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.

Wal-Mart management once again demonstrates its efficiency. Senior employee's major f-up comes to light in the morning, and he is canned before sundown. Not surprising, from the private company that put all local, state, and federal agencies to shame in the aftermath of Katrina.

26 posted on 08/18/2006 8:27:13 AM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
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To: msnimje
Should somebody tell them there are MORE Wal-Mart shoppers than voters in the US?

Yikes, is that true, or just an alarmingly plausible throwaway line that you made up?

27 posted on 08/18/2006 8:29:52 AM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
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To: NormsRevenge

Andrew Young adds his name to the list of stupid a$$ed racist bigots.


28 posted on 08/18/2006 8:31:34 AM PDT by DCPatriot ("It aint what you don't know that kills you. It's what you know that aint so" Theodore Sturgeon)
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To: NormsRevenge
He was probably getting death threats warning him to get off the Wal-Mart board.

Or......he was warned if he stayed with Wal-Mart he wouldn't get the usual lucrative speaking engagements any more and he would be shunned or blacklisted by black/labor special interests groups.

Most directors are hired for their names and for a special purpose. No way do most of these big names resign from highly-paid, no-work, cushy jobs inherent in being a director of a large corporation.

They either get the axe for some reason or other.....or they resign to hang onto the possibility of future highly-paid, no-work, cushy jobs.

Leni

29 posted on 08/18/2006 8:42:04 AM PDT by MinuteGal (Israel Hold Firm !................No Retreat means No Repeat !)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin
I'm making a Wal-Mart run today, too. I'll post my "Everything I Buy is Made in America" purchase list later. ;)

I did mine shortly after my posting this morning. the only thing of questionable origin I purchased is the Lexmark ink cartridge for my printer...it says "assembled" in Mexico.

I did notice something in there this morning that I had never noticed before.......the flags hanging inside the entrances. As I've told you, I have to cross the state line into Maryland to shop at WalMart.....well the flags hanging from the ceiling are not only the US and Maryland flags, but also the Virginia flag.......that's so cool.

But I wonder if they will keep it up after they open their new store in this county next year...probably, because people like me will still drive to Maryland.....it's only 14 miles as opposed ot over 30 for the location of the proposed store in my county.

30 posted on 08/18/2006 9:50:57 AM PDT by Gabz (Taxaholism, the disease you elect to have (TY xcamel))
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To: Gabz

It's a shame how Wal-Mart is now the target and a democRat one at that, maybe Target is behind, lol.. just kidding.

No , it is just noodleheaded politicos mining votes from malcontents who don't have a clue about economies and choices afforded customers in robust ones..


31 posted on 08/18/2006 9:51:55 AM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ......Help the "Pendleton 8' and families -- http://www.freerepublic.com/~normsrevenge/)
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To: GovernmentShrinker
Yikes, is that true, or just an alarmingly plausible throwaway line that you made up?

Dude, do you work for Zogby?

Anyway, to answer this question, I have heard just that about a half a dozen times from as many sources. I just spent 5 minutes looking for a primary source on the Internet and can not find the exact number for American Shoppers but I did find that 176 million customers visit Wal-Mart each week, globally. (http://www.walmartfacts.com/FactSheets/7262006_Merchandising.pdf)

IIRC, there were about 120 Million voters in the last US Presidential election. So it is entirely possible and even probable that more than 120 million Americans visit a Wal-Mart store within the the time span of a year. Moreover, many American's only vote once every 4 years so it seems even more probable that some number over 120 million Americans shop at a Wal-Mart every 4 years.

While perusing the Wal-Mart site looking for the exact number of American Wal-Mart shoppers, I found that the company has 52,623 "associates" in the state of Georgia alone and 1.3 million nationally.

Oh, I just found the number! "More than 127,000 Million customers shop at Wal-Mart NATIONWIDE every week."

http://www.walmartfacts.com/FactSheets/7262006_Economic_Benefits.pdf

Please feel free to ignore everything I wrote before the last paragraph. :~)
32 posted on 08/18/2006 10:26:49 AM PDT by msnimje (What part of-- "DEATH TO AMERICA" --do the Democrats not understand?)
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To: msnimje

It would actually be 176 million customer VISITS, rather than 176 million CUSTOMERS, with people who go more than once being counted multiple times (no store of that type has any way to track individual customers, when many are making small purchases with cash). But it's still entirely possible that the number who shop at Wal-Mart and the number who vote are neck-and-neck. I said "Yikes", but I'm not sure I really meant it. Given Wal-Mart's performance in the aftermath of Katrina, which was head and shoulders above that of any government agency (local, state, or federal), I had already suggested elsewhere that FEMA's responsibilities should just be contracted out to Wal-Mart. Perhaps the entire federal government's operations should be.


33 posted on 08/18/2006 11:16:38 AM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
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