Andrew Young : The Eternal Enthusiast--Down Now, but Certainly Not Out

When Maynard Jackson finished his two terms as the first black mayor of Atlanta, he had to leave town to find a suitable job. Such was the degree of enmity felt for Jackson by the city’s white economic power structure. In contrast, when Andrew Young was obliged to leave office in 1989, he settled comfortably in a job in the city’s northern suburbs--where many of the white businesses had fled in the 1970s when Jackson’s election signified that black political power would be running Atlanta for the long term.

Young is chief executive of an international unit of Law Cos.--an architectural, engineering and construction firm that is one of Atlanta’s largest private companies. The former congressman and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations can usually be found in a high-rise office with a magnificent view of the north Georgia pine forest. He looks out on Forsyth County, the community that sparked the biggest civil-rights march in decades by the stunning notion of some citizens that, in the 1980s, blacks could be kept out of an entire county.

From his days in the civil-rights movement--including a long stint as a close aide to Martin Luther King Jr.--the 58-year-old Young has been among those pushing hardest to open doors for blacks. But he was always the one that, no matter how strong the demand, whites would feel comfortable talking to. Ordained a Congregational minister, the former mayor has an easygoing style that generally puts people at ease.

It is a quality that served him well in the mayor’s office, as he sought to keep Atlanta’s economic boom of the 1970s and ‘80s going at full speed. He was head cheerleader for a community in a class by itself when it comes to civic boosterism. His international clout helped deliver the 1996 Olympic Games to Atlanta. But Young is not a native. Originally from New Orleans, he found his niche in Atlanta during the civil-rights movement and settled there with his wife, Jean, and their four children.

Throughout his public life, Young has displayed an unfailing optimism about his ability to make other people--no matter how wide the difference in point of view--see things his way. Ambassador Young thought talking to the Palestinians was a perfectly reasonable idea regardless of U. S. policy. President Jimmy Carter sacked him. The same optimism last year put Young on the campaign trail in a bid to become Georgia’s first black governor. In August, the Democrats of Georgia said no thanks loudly and clearly to the man who helped bring Atlanta closer to realizing its visions of itself as more than just the capital of the South, but an international city.

Question: A lot of people were hopeful about your election after Doug Wilder was elected governor of Virginia. Are Virginia and Georgia so different that a black can’t win statewide office here?

Answer: No. I think that if I had the advantage of being lieutenant governor over, say, being a mayor, I would have won. As lieutenant governor, you’re not doing anything controversial. Doug Wilder had the full support of the Democratic Party and also the business community of Virginia. He won the nomination in a convention. I had to run in a primary.

Q: In light of the defeat of two black candidates in statewide races in the 1990 election, what are the prospects for ‘92?

A: It is always difficult, particularly in the states where you have a primary. It means you may have three elections to win. Doug Wilder won in a caucus state. Even so, he had to raise $6 million. One of the problems with Harvey Gantt was he was running (in North Carolina) against Jesse Helms. Jesse is tough. Any other Democrat would have had a hard time. A former governor ran against him and lost.

If I were to run again, I would have a better time. But you never know who’s out there. I think it could be possible for a black to win in Texas. There is a Senate seat open in California in ’92. Mervyn Dymally might decide to run for Alan Cranston’s seat. I always thought Yvonne Brathwaite Burke would make a good candidate for statewide office.

Q: Do you think the old traditional Democratic coalition can keep winning statewide races in the South, or is there a definite shift to the Republicans?

A: I don’t see any shift to the Repubicans at all. Whenever the Democrats can keep their coalition together--that is to keep the black community, business community and farm community--then the Republicans don’t stand a chance. They will make a little noise in the suburbs, and pick up a few House seats, but won’t make much noise statewide.

Q: Are you through with politics?

A: I think of this as a sabbatical. I really want to spend full time on making this business work for the next year or so. But I will be looking again at the governor’s race for ’94.

Q: Are you interested in national politics--going back to Congress or perhaps a federal appointment?

A: I really wouldn’t be. . . . Once you’ve been used to running something yourself, it’s hard. As mayor, I could get an idea and everybody could say it was crazy. . . . Nobody thought we could bring the Democratic Convention here. They really didn’t think we could bring the Olympics here.

But when you’re the mayor, you can get ideas like this, and if you’re willing to work hard enough, and if you believe enough in yourself and what your city stands for, you can make things happen. That’s very difficult to do if you’re serving in somebody else’s Administration, or if you’re in Congress or have a Senate position where you’ve got to convince a majority to move. We just had to convince a handful of people to go ahead and work like hell to bring the Olympics here. For a year or so people looked at us and just grinned and didn’t take us seriously at all. And you don’t have to worry about that when you’re the chief executive officer.

Q: What does having the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta mean to you personally?

A: It means a fulfillment of a life-long dream to be involved with the Olympics. I always wanted to go to the Olympics as a kid. Jesse Owens and Ralph Metcalfe were my first heroes as a child.

Q: What did you want to compete in?

A: I was on the track and swimming teams in college. I probably had my best chance in track and field--in the 200 and 400 meters. It just never worked out. I went to seminary instead . . . .

I think a lot of the discipline--what little discipline I have--and determination came out of my athletic background. The competitive edge that I thrive on in politics was something that was developed in sports. It means a lot to me.

But also, I was determined when I was elected mayor to make Atlanta a great international city. We’ve taken that step by step--bringing in the international airlines, bringing in international investment and banks. The Olympics is sort of the icing on the cake. This confirms Atlanta’s place in the world. I can’t think of any better climax to my political career than to bring the Olympics here just as I am leaving the mayor’s office.

Q: What accounts for the continuing gap in the economic prosperity of cities like Atlanta and Charlotte and poor economic conditions in the rest of the South?

A: Education and money . . . . If you take Atlanta out of Georgia, Georgia is poorer than Mississippi. The education system is lagging. The social services are lagging. I think that metropolitan Atlanta is an island of prosperity in the midst of almost an ocean of poverty.

Q: Is part of the problem a lack of political leadership in the region?

A: Yeah . . . . We’re caught between two competing trends. One, they’re using low taxes to attract new business. But low taxes don’t give you enough money to develop a first-rate education system. You’ve got to convince the business community it’s in their interest to pay for the education of a well-trained work force. Nobody’s been able to do that. But I think that’s on the verge of happening.

Q: What hopeful signs do you see?

A: (Georgia) Gov. Harris’ commitment to quality basic education, and almost every Chamber of Commerce in the state is now committed to a partnership of the public schools. I think there’s a general awareness that the economic growth is not going to continue if we’re a low-wage state. We’re going to find a way to bring high-skilled jobs to the state. We’ve been doing that some by stealing workers from all over the country. . . . People have not had any trouble recruiting people from all over the world to come here and live and work.

Q: This region has changed so much since Martin Luther King was marching. Do you think his dream has been realized?

A: There’s still a significant percentage of the poor in America who are not yet getting the opportunities we were fighting for in the 1960s. In the 1960s, the government had enough money to help them. The problem we face now is that the government is bankrupt.

That’s one of the reasons why I’ve turned to the private sector to create jobs . . . . Starting out as a minister and getting into politics, going to Congress, where I was on the banking committee, I began to understand how important development was basically for feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and healing the sick . . . .

We’re going to have to see to it that the private money flows in the direction of the black community. In Atlanta, 35% of all city money we spend--and similarly with the Olympics--will be spent with minority entrepreneurs. But to wipe out poverty, you’ve not only got to create opportunity, but to give education. You give people money, but if they are not well-trained and disciplined, they lose it. Unfortunately, a lot of our basketball and football players who make very good money as athletes end up broke by the time they are 40, because they neglected to get an education, or enough education and training to cope with the system.

Q: How significant is the new information about King’s alleged plagiarism--assuming what has been reported is true--to judging his overall achievements?

A: It’s totally insignificant. There was nothing about his ministry that rested on the fact that he had a Ph.D. Martin was honored because of what he did from Montgomery on. Preachers often borrow from others. I find myself doing it. I’m preaching and I’m saying something that sounds good and I’m thinking I’m important and I suddenly realize that I am quoting Martin . . . . He made no bones about borrowing ideas from Gandhi, Thoreau and his father.

One of his problems was that Martin had a near photographic memory. He could quote verbatim quite long passages from the Bible and Thoreau. He could go on endlessly. It’s quite possible that in writing his thesis he slipped. I don’t think it was deliberate; it could have even been a typist error. He was also doing a lot of things while he was writing his thesis. He was preaching and starting work in Montgomery. To me, this is a totally irrelevant controversy.

Q: Some conservatives are quoting King to suggest he would have opposed affirmative action. Is he being misinterpreted?

A: . . . . Yes. Martin Luther King was a prophet of personal responsibility as well as governmental responsibility. He used to say that a man can’t ride your back unless you bend down and let him . . . .

But still, if a man has been riding your back for 200 years, and you finally straighten up, you’re not going to be able to run as fast as you need to run to keep pace with him.

I believe in personal responsibility. But I also believe in affirmative action. The government has an interest in including all citizens.

I had a unique opportunity as mayor of Atlanta--which is 65% black--where intelligent blacks were well established in the public sector because they had been excluded disproportionately from the private sector. I had two black Ph.D’s in my police department, a number of blacks with master’s degrees and law degrees. But I made a white man police chief because I had a black police commissioner. I felt racial balance was important to good government. Nobody ever criticized me for that. Not the black community nor the white community. But as far as I was concerned, that was affirmative action.

Q: You noted the number of really talented blacks in this city. We hear a lot that if you’re black and interested in business--Atlanta is a good place to be. Is that a myth, or reality?

A: It’s a reality. But it’s almost like Seattle, where they say you come visit us but don’t stay. And I say that not to be too cocky. When I came to Georgia, it was a desperate, difficult place.

I remember, when I was coming out of school, Cleveland was the best place in America for a young black person to go. Cleveland was on the front page of of Ebony magazine as the No. 1 city in America for blacks. And everybody went there. It doesn’t work that way. I think that we in Atlanta and the people in New York or Los Angeles really need to work where we are . . . . I don’t believe in running for the easy money, because the truth of it is: It’s not easy. Everybody who’s doing well here has paid a lot of dues, and been very, very lucky.

Q: But how well are blacks integrated into the economy of the city?

A: Well, it depends on what you use as a standard, considering that 20 years ago there were no blacks making any money. We have a lot of black folk doing very well. This building is considered a suburban office building. I’ve been amazed at the number of black people that I’ve seen working out here. And these are all pretty good, upscale jobs.

Atlanta reminds me of Los Angeles in the ‘60s, when there were really good black neighborhoods. In Atlanta, there are predominately black neighborhoods with $150,000-$200,000 homes. A $200,000 house in Atlanta is comparable to a $1-million house in Los Angeles. Blacks really do live well here. But blacks are still a very small part of the total economy. They’re no threat to white folk.

Q: Atlanta seems to have extremes among blacks--people doing really well and people doing really badly. What accounts for that?

A: Sixty percent of our high-school graduates went on to college last year. So, if you grew up in Atlanta, and took advantage of the educational opportunities in Atlanta--a good public school system, six predominately black colleges--you can make it.

Now, we have people coming in from all over the country. Over half of our homeless . . . in fact, most of our poor people didn’t grow up here. They moved in here from rural areas with little or no education. The people who come here to go to college and stay do very well. They move up the ladder, and into the mainstream. The people who come here from rural areas, or from other cities with no job training, and no educational opportunity, they don’t do any better here than they did anywhere else.