In an exclusive interview with the Black Press, the 91-year-old icon said he also believes some of the damage done by the modern Republican Party, particularly to African Americans, are a result of individuals seeking their own advantage.
By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia
The failure of lawmakers to get a current civil rights bill – the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act – and an unbiased voting measure through Congress can be traced back to the obvious – the power grab made by Conservatives – and the not-so-obvious – the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Former U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young, a civil rights icon and two-term Atlanta Mayor, said Republicans stacking the courts and appointing GOP-friendly federal judges have cut into the progress he and others made during the civil rights era.
Along with King, the late Rep. John Lewis, and Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Young was an unquestioned leader in the American Civil Rights Movement.
Young’s career in civil rights began in 1954 with voting registration drives despite numerous threats to his life.
He worked with the National Council of Churches before leading the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Citizenship Schools where he and King taught non-violent strategies to push the civil rights movement forward.
Most have pointed to Young’s strategic negotiation skills that led to President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
In an exclusive interview with the Black Press at his illustrious office in Atlanta, the 91-year-old icon said he also believes some of the damage done by the modern Republican Party, particularly to African Americans, are a result of individuals seeking their own advantage.
“We got to 1969, after Dr. King’s death, where everybody wanted to run for president. Shirley Chisholm, Dick Gregory, and Eldridge Cleaver,” Young recalled.
“There must have been 20 Black folks running for…
Read the full article here
