Contrasting Bernie Sanders and Andrew Young
October 21, 2014

Richmond hosted two political icons within a week, Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders on October 16, and former UN Ambassador Andrew Young last night, October 20. Both were well-received by crowds numbering in the hundreds, and delivered messages of both hope and challenge.
But there were also stark contrast. Sanders was brought to Richmond through connections of the Richmond Progressive Alliance, while Young came as a guest of the Chevron-funded organization, For Richmond (4Richmond). Young’s sponsors, save one, were large corporations, including Chevron, Coca-Cola and Richmond Sanitary/Republic Services. The exception was Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church.
Sanders’ appearance and speech was well-covered by the progressive on-line media and by Richmond Confidential (The best of Senator Bernie Sanders in Richmond) but virtually ignored by the conventional media, other than the Contra Costa Times, which did run a Richmond Confidential story - Vermont senator Bernie Sanders fires up progressive crowd in Richmond.

Andrew Young has had a remarkable career, beginning as an ordained minister, fighting for civil rights alongside Martin Luther King, Jr., a U.S. congressman, United Nations ambassador and mayor of Atlanta. Currently, he is engaged as an advocate of investment in Africa through GoodWorks International and the many programs of the Andrew J. Young Foundation.
Ambassador Young gave two talks last night, a shorter one to a smaller audience at a pre-dinner reception at the Richmond Parks and Recreation Building, and a later one after the dinner attended by several hundred people at Lovonya DeJean Middle School.
Both leaders embraced the importance of the middle class, but while Sanders lamented what globalism has done to decimate America’s middle class, Young embraced it, telling stories about how he brought European and Asian corporations to make major investments in Atlanta while he was mayor. Young praised both Coca-Cola and Chevron for the role they are playing in investments and job creation in Africa while Sanders condemned the power of corporations in general and the attempt to buy the Richmond election by Chevron, in particular. There were a few winces in the otherwise receptive audience when Young touted the good things that Coca-Cola and Chevron were doing for Africa.
In an ironic twist, Young spoke of how the modern success of Atlanta began with an alliance between a small number of progressive whites in the business community and the best and the brightest, both faculty and students, historically black colleges, such as Morehouse, Spelman and Morris Brown colleges, plus Clark Atlanta University and the Interdenominational Theological Center. He related how the two groups had forged a “progressive alliance,” that had created opportunity and attracted investment in Atlanta. The irony is that the organization 4Richmond is believed to have been created by Chevron as sort of an antidote for the Richmond Progressive Alliance, the members of which were largely absent from the event.
For Young, collaboration and acceptance among racial, ethnic and other groups in America is key to economic success. He recalled how LGBT individuals from all over the south converged on Atlanta because of their difficulties of acceptance in rural and small towns had contributed significantly to Atlanta’s economic success and how the marketing of black culture, such as hip-hop, and made fortunes for entrepreneurs. He sees globalism as simply an extension of this. The global economy is the rainbow economy.
Young sees the private sector as the solution for problems, while Sanders is more focused on government and public policy. Young preaches optimism and opportunity, while Sanders preached the need for change. Young says, “This is a great time to be alive. This is a great place to be alive.”
Young talked about turning problems into opportunities, turning lemons into lemonade. When he was mayor of Atlanta, he made it a point to expedite permits for big projects. He recalled a Japanese investor phoning him one morning at 3:00 AM from Japan, complaining that the building department had not released the occupancy permit in time to turn on the power for a grand opening the next day. Young had the problem fixed within the hour. He said that is the kind of government action that attracts foreign investment.
Andrew Young also has no use for slackers, incompetence, corruption and crooks. He said, “You can make more money honestly in a growing economy than you can steal in a down economy.”
Recalling his U.N. career and the Carter administration, he noted that during those four years, American soldiers killed no one, and no American soldiers were killed. He said he used diplomacy to organize Arab and African nations to defuse a potential crises in Lebanon, but when Reagan came in, he instead used bluster that resulted in the deaths of 241 U.S. troops before pulling out.
So far, there has been no media coverage of the event other than4Richmnd press releases.