It appears as though Wal-Mart needed to do a deeper background check on Andrew Young. The former civil rights leader, Ambassador to the United Nations and Mayor of Atlanta, recently became chairman of Working Families for Wal-Mart, a group created by the retailer to get a positive message out as to its contributions to the public.
While the resume may have looked impressive, what recently came out of Mr. Young's mouth has turned out to be an embarrassment for himself and the company he represents (correct that: represented).
In an interview published in The Los Angeles Sentinel, Mr. Young said Wal-Mart "should" put mom-and-pop stores out of business in urban areas. According to Mr. Young, Jewish, Arab and Korean shop owners had "ripped off" urban communities "selling us stale bread, and bad meat and wilted vegetables."
"You see, those are the people who have been overcharging us," he said of mom-and-pop stores, "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."
Discussion Questions: Do Andrew Young's statements actually reflect what many citizens in urban communities believe about mom-and-pop stores operating in their communities? Will Andrew Young's statements and resignation set back the accomplishments of Wal-Mart's public relations efforts?