THE
PEACEMAKER
Andrew Young fought racism by reasoning with white leaders. Listen, he told them. I only want to help you.
By Kayleigh Skinner
H
e can still picture the flag, the swastika billowing in the wind just blocks from his childhood home in downtown New Orleans. “Why?” 5-year-old Andrew Young asked his father. “Why are the neighbors shouting ‘Heil Hitler?’” “He told me that white supremacy was a sickness, and these were sick people,” Young said. “You don’t get upset with sick people. You find a way to help them.” Minister. Civil rights icon. Congressman. United Nations ambassador. Mayor of Atlanta. Each is a title Young held during his long career as activist, pastor, politician and diplomat.
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