Andrew Young's Undiplomatic Gaffe

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"The sheer satisfaction generated by a good gripe-fest can often be reason enough to gather folks in the spirit of anti-corporate activism. Wal-Mart Stores, for one, has seen myriad organizations and Websites dedicated to criticizing it.

But one group, 'Working Families for Wal-Mart' has been different.

An unlikely assortment of clergymen, businesswomen, and the singer Pat Boone, it has sought to exhort the 'good things' about the retail giant and spread the message of its positive contributions to society at large. (No guesses as to who was funding it, of course)

The big coup for Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ) came when civil rights leader and former U.N. ambassador Andrew Young, 74, agreed to head the group.

Since February he has lobbied minority groups and communities to accept the retail chain in their neighborhoods. Till now, that is.

Following what he later called 'racist shorthand,' Young has quit his post as the head of 'Working Families for Wal-Mart.' In an interview with Thursday's Los Angeles Sentinel, he defended the charge that Wal-Mart runs mom-and-pop stores out of business saying 'those are the people who have been overcharging us.'

The rub came in his elucidation: '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.' "

Via Metafilter