REACTING TO HURTFUL REMARKS

(from the New York Times, August 18, 2006) The civil rights leader Andrew Young, who was hired by Wal-Mart to improve its public image, resigned from that post last night after telling an African-American newspaper that Jewish, Arab and Korean shop owners had “ripped off” urban communities for years, “selling us stale bread, and bad meat and wilted vegetables.” (see full article)

So what are Jews, Arabs and Koreans doing about this insult? Has any rabbi declared a jewhad against Ambassador Young and Wal-Mart? Have former governors and ambassadors been gunned down in the street? Have Wal-Marts been firebombed? Well, no, not in this country. Mr. Young has been roundly criticized by Jewish-, Arab-, and Korean-American leaders, as well as by Wal-Mart, his former employer. Mr. Young has issued a public apology. And that's it, although there will be collective memory of his unfortunate remarks for a long time.

And this is what I call civilized behavior.