Celebrating A Wal-Mart Opening? Not That Andrew Young

Yahoo Business has this headline: Young's Wal-Mart PR Job Puzzles Activists.

Civil rights superstar Andrew Young celebrated the opening of a Wal-Mart in a black Atlanta suburb by dancing with workers and "bouncing to the song 'We Are Family'." This has shocked many including Rev. Joseph Lowery, the 74-year old Atlanta-based civil rights leader who recently insulted President Bush at the Coretta Scott King memorial service.

Lowery said:

Maybe he knows something that other advocates for economic justice don't. Maybe we will see the corporate giant be born again and become a good corporate citizen.

According to Rev. Lowery, this "good corporate citizenship" entails more than investing significant capital into a large retail operation in a black neighborhood in order to earn a profit while providing goods at affordable prices to the local clientele. And maybe Mr. Young has discovered that the employment opportunities that Wal-Mart gives low-skilled workers is the doorway towards advancement that the civil right movement should be supporting.

This is a very good sign of progress.