Andrew Young
This article is about the politician. For the aide to politician John Edwards, see Andrew Young (political operative). For other people named "Andrew Young", see Andrew Young (disambiguation).
| Andrew Young | |
 | |
| | |
| In office 1977–1979 | |
| President | Jimmy Carter |
|---|---|
| Preceded by | William Scranton |
| Succeeded by | Donald McHenry |
| | |
| In office 1982–1990 | |
| Preceded by | Maynard Jackson |
| Succeeded by | Maynard Jackson |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 5th district | |
| In office January 3, 1973 – January 29, 1977 | |
| Preceded by | Fletcher Thompson |
| Succeeded by | Wyche Fowler |
| | |
| Born | March 12, 1932 New Orleans, Louisiana, USA |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Jean Young (deceased), Carolyn M. Young |
| Alma mater | Dillard University Howard University Hartford Seminary |
| Profession | Pastor and Politician |
| Religion | United Church of Christ |
Andrew Jackson Young (born March 12, 1932) is an American politician, diplomat and pastor from Georgia who has served as Mayor of Atlanta, a Congressman from the 5th district, and United States Ambassador to the United Nations. He served as President of the National Council of Churches USA, was a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, and was a supporter and friend of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University in Atlanta was named after him. International Boulevard, near Centennial Olympic Park, has been re-named Andrew Young International Boulevard, in honor of his efforts to secure the Olympic bid for Atlanta.
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[edit] Early life
Young was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to Daisy Fuller Young, a school teacher, and Andrew Jackson Young, Sr., a dentist. Young's father hired a professional boxer to teach Andrew and his brother how to fight, so they could defend themselves. From that, Andrew decided that violence was not the path he would choose to follow.[citation needed]
[edit] Education
After beginning his higher education at Dillard University, Young transferred to Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1947, and received his Bachelor of Science in pre-dentistry degree there in 1951. He originally had planned to follow his father's career of dentistry, but then felt a religious calling. He entered the Turner-Boatright Christian ministry school and earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1955.
Young is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first inter-collegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African American students. On April 1, 2008, Young was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, honoris causa from the Bridgewater College during the 11 a.m. convocation in the Carter Center for Worship and Music led by Bridgewater President Phillip C. Stone.[1]
Young was appointed to serve as pastor of a church in Marion, Alabama. It was there in Marion that he met Jean Childs, who later became his wife. In 1957, Andrew was called to the Youth Division of The National Council of Churches in New York City. He produced a television program for youth called, Look Up and Live, travelled to Geneva for meetings of the World Council of Churches around the United States. Also while in Marion, Young began to study the writings of Mohandas Gandhi. Young became interested in Gandhi's concept of non-violent resistance as a tactic for social change. He encouraged African-Americans to register to vote in Alabama, and sometimes faced death threats while doing so. He became a friend and ally of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at this time. In 1957, Young moved to New York City to accept a job with the National Council of Churches. However, as the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum, Young decided that his place was back in the South. He moved to Atlanta, Georgia, and again worked on drives to register black voters. In 1960 he joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Young was jailed for his participation in civil rights demonstrations, both in Selma, Alabama, and in St. Augustine, Florida. Young played a key role in the events in Birmingham, Alabama, serving as a mediator between the white and black communities. In 1964 Young was named executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), becoming, in that capacity, one of Dr. King's principal lieutenants. As a colleague and friend to Martin Luther King Jr. he was a strategist and negotiator during the Civil Rights Campaigns in Birmingham (1963), St. Augustine (1964), and Selma (1965) that resulted in the passage of the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act. He was with King in Memphis, Tennessee, when King was assassinated in 1968.
In 2005, to honor the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Ambassador Young, William Wachtel and Norman Ornstein founded Why Tuesday?, a nonpartisan group dedicated to increasing voter participation by moving the national voting day from Tuesday to the weekend.
[edit] Career in Congress
In 1970 Andrew Young ran as a Democrat for Congress from Georgia, but was unsuccessful. After his defeat, Rev. Fred C. Bennette, Jr., introduced him to Murray M. Silver, Esq., Atlanta, Georgia, Attorney, who served as his campaign finance chairman, promoted concerts featuring top entertainers including Harry Belafonte and Bill Withers. He ran again in 1972 and won. He later was re-elected in 1974 and in 1976. During his four-plus years in Congress he was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, and he was involved in several debates regarding foreign relations including the decision to stop supporting the Portuguese attempts to hold on to their colonies in southern Africa. Young also sat on the powerful Rules committee and the Banking and Urban Development committee. Young opposed the Vietnam War,[2] helped enact legislation that established a U.S. Institute for peace, established the Chattahoochee River National Park and negotiated federal funds for MARTA and the Atlanta Highways.
[edit] UN Ambassador
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed Young to serve as Ambassador to the UN, the first African-American to serve in the position. Young's controversial statements made headlines almost from the start. In August 1979, he appeared on Meet the Press and said that Israel was "stubborn and intransigent."[3] Young met secretly, apparently in violation of American policy, with representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which culminated in Carter asking for Young's resignation.[3][4] Jimmy Carter denied any complicity in what was called the Andy Young Affair.
As UN Ambassador, Young played a leading role in advancing a settlement in Rhodesia with Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo, refusing to accept and describing as "neofascist" the 1979 election leading to the unrecognized state of Zimbabwe Rhodesia. Writing in Commentary at the time, civil-rights leader Bayard Rustin argued that the elections were "free and fair", not held "with a gun at [the] heads" of the people.[5] The election had been restricted to white parties and those black parties not participating in the long Rhodesian Bush War. The situation was resolved the next year with the Lancaster House Agreement and the establishment of Zimbabwe. Looking back at the struggle 25 years later, Gabriel Shumba of the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum said:[6]
| “ | The world looked the other way when Mugabe took over in 1980... Leaders with otherwise impeccable credentials, like Malcolm Fraser (then prime minister of Australia), Jimmy Carter and Andrew Young in America, Brian Mulroney of Canada, all the leaders of the Scandinavian countries and almost the entire British parliament kept quiet... | ” |
[edit] Atlanta mayor
In 1981, Young was elected mayor of Atlanta, succeeding Maynard Jackson. As mayor of Atlanta, he brought in $70 billion of new private investment, including the 1996 Olympic Games- making Atlanta the engine of prosperity for Georgia that it remains today.[citation needed] He continued and expanded Maynard Jackson's programs for including minority and female-owned businesses in all city contracts. Atlanta hosted the 1988 Democratic National Convention, and the Mayor's Task Force on Education established the Dream Jamboree College Fair that tripled the college scholarships given to Atlanta public school graduates. He also revamped the Atlanta Zoo, making ecological habitats specific to different animals.[citation needed] Young was re-elected as Mayor in 1985 with more than 80% of the vote.
[edit] Private citizen
Young ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Georgia in 1990, losing in the Democratic primary run-off to future Governor Zell Miller. However, while running for the Statehouse, he simultaneously was serving as a co-chairman of a committee which, at the time, was attempting to bring the 1996 Summer Olympics to Atlanta. Young played a significant role in the success of Atlanta's bid to host the Summer Games.
In 1996, Young wrote A Way Out of No Way: The Spiritual Memoirs of Andrew Young, published by Thomas Nelson.
Young is currently co-chairman of Good Works International, a consulting firm "offering international market access and political risk analysis in key emerging markets within Africa and the Caribbean." The company's Web site also notes that "GWI principals have backgrounds in human rights and public service. The concept of enhancing the greater good is intrinsic to our business endeavors." Nike is one of Good Works' most visible corporate clients. In the late 1990s, at the height of controversy over the company's labor practices, Young led a delegation to report on Nike operations in Vietnam. Anti-sweatshop activists derided the report as a whitewash and raised concerns that Nike was trading on Young's background as a civil-rights activist to improve Nike's corporate image. Young also has been a director of the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy, and also is the chairman of the board for the Global Initiative for the Advancement of Nutritional Therapy.[7]
In 2004 Young briefly considered running for U.S. Senate from Georgia after the incumbent, Zell Miller, announced his retirement, but decided not to re-enter public life.
On January 22, 2008, Young appeared as a guest on the Comedy Central talk show parody The Colbert Report. Host Stephen Colbert invited Young to appear during the writer's strike, because, many years earlier, Young and Colbert's father had worked together, but on opposite sides, to mediate a Charleston, South Carolina, hospital workers' strike.
Young made another appearance on The Colbert Report on November 5, 2008, to talk about the election of Barack Obama to the presidency.
Young had four children with his first wife, Jean Childs, who died of cancer in 1994. He married his second wife, Carolyn McClain, in 1995
