NAAAP Condemns Andrew Young’s Racist Remarks
Posted By: George Yui
Saturday, September 2, 2006
 

NAAAP National and the Asian Community Condemn Andrew Young’s Racist Remarks

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contacts:
Brad Baldia – (215) 715-3046, brad_baldia@naaap.org (National)
Brenda Tran – (770) 846-8726, btran@naaapatlanta.org (Local)


Atlanta, Georgia (Aug. 29, 2006)

The National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP) is shocked and offended at the disparaging comments recently made by Andrew Young, a former civil rights leader.

Andrew Young’s comments that Jewish, Korean and Arab shopkeepers have “ripped off” African-American communities for years “selling us stale bread, bad meat and wilted vegetables” and “should be displaced by Wal-Mart,” (The New York Times) were offensive, insulting and demeaning.

Young ironically had been hired by Wal-Mart as chairman of a group intended to boost Wal-Mart’s public image. Young, an aide to Martin Luther King during the civil rights protests of the 1960s, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and former Mayor of Atlanta, took the job as Chairman of the Steering Committee for Working Families for Wal-Mart in February.

NAAAP is disappointed that Young, who is a high-profile leader of the civil rights movement would abuse his position at Wal-Mart by making racist statements toward the Jewish, Korean and Arab communities. Young has done the right thing by publicly apologizing, retracting his comments and resigning from Working Families for Wal-Mart. NAAAP appreciates Wal-Mart’s immediate action of distancing itself from Young. Bigotry and racial prejudice deserve no place in corporate America and in the communities served by our hardworking entrepreneurs and businesspeople.

In response to Mr. Young's remarks, a libel suit was filed by the California Korean American Grocery Retailer Association. The suit, filed last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court, also names the Wal-Mart store chain and seeks at least $7.5 million in damages.

The National Association of Asian American Professionals is the largest and fastest growing Asian Pacific American professional organization with representation in over 25 cities across the continental United States and in Canada. Its mission is to develop future leaders through professional development, cultural awareness and community service. For more information about NAAAP, visit www.naaap.org.

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