poverty, Race, Racism, Uncategorized

Civil rights leader takes heat for stand on Confederate monuments

I heard Andrew Young say this morning that it’s a waste of time to protest Confederate monuments. That energy, he said on NPR’s Morning Edition, should be reserved to continue the struggle to end poverty and the racial injustice that still exists in America. Young’s position was perhaps unexpected given his vast experience in civil rights. Young marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., became mayor of Atlanta, a congressman representing Georgia and the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

“This is a total distraction undercutting most of the progress we made,” Young told NPR. He feels it’s a waste of time to fight the Civil War again. The civil rights movement succeeded, he said, because of the efforts to bring people together.

He feels it’s a waste of time to fight the Civil War again. Instead, he said, minorties in this country need to form alliances with white people in order to score victories. That’s how the civil rights movement succeeded, he said.

He was asked specifically about the massive tribute to Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis carved on the side of an outcropping of granite just east of Atlanta and mentioned in King’s “I Have a Dream” speech: “Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.”

Young said he supports adding a freedom bell on Stone Mountain but not taking down the carving, even though many African Americans, including the Black Lives Matter movement, would like to see it gone.

“These are kids who grew up free and they don’t realize what still enslaves them,” Young said, “and it’s not those monuments. The issue is life and death and not some stupid monuments.”


Young’s position is probably not a popular one, especially now, after the events in Charlottesville. The protests there had a domino effect and every day, we hear about another monument under fire. Today, the news came from Norfolk, Virginia, where the city council voted to re-located a downtown tribute to Confederate soldiers.

Over the weekend, Young had taken heat over comments he made on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that black protesters today get it wrong when they put down white people. He was attacked on Twitter, particularly for this comment:


“The reason I feel uncomfortable condemning the Klan types is that they are almost the poorest of the poor. They are the forgotten Americans. They have been used and abused and neglected….”

Young’s point was that poverty still threatens millions of Americans – no matter what race – and that we should be fighting it together, not divided. Some called him a wise man. Some lamented that he was out of touch. Others were downright angry that a civil rights leader stopped short of condemning the Klan.

I understand how such monuments and tributes to a hateful past can be downright painful. I still have to look at them in my native India, brutalized by the British for so many years. It hurts to see Queen Victoria and British generals and viceroys glorified when they ordered the oppression of my people. Is Young right? I’m interested to know what people think.

But I also understand Young’s point that monuments represent the past. We should add to history, not take away from it. Is Young right? I’m interested to know what people think.

I am still mulling over Young’s words. Is he right or out of touch? I’m interested to know what people think.