The Larry Kane Report

What was Andrew Young thinking? A pillar of the civil rights movement, a former Ambassador to the U.N. , an ex Mayor of Atlanta, a man of distinction and credibility suddenly shatters the myth by engaging in the kind of ethnic stereotyping that he and Dr. Martin Luther King fought so hard to stamp out.

Young was hired by Wal Mart to help the company sell its cause and correct imagery that it wasn’t fostering minorities. He led an outside interest group that was enlisted by Wal Mart in a national campaign.

Andrew Young resigned from that position after comments made in a Los Angeles newspaper. He was asked about Wal Mart’s success and the fact that the company had caused the closing of thousands of mom and pop stores across the nation. His reply was a shocker:

“Well, I think they should; they ran the `mom and pop’ stores out of my neighborhood,” the paper quoted Young as saying. “But you see, those are the people who have been overcharging us selling us stale bread and bad meat and wilted vegetables. And they sold out and moved to Florida. I think they’ve ripped off our communities enough. First it was Jews, then it was Koreans and now it’s Arabs; very few black people own these stores.”

Managing to insult three ethnic groups at once, Young exhibited not only a lack of judgment but exposed the underbelly of ethnic stereotyping that is the root cause of bigotry. In a society like ours, bigotry is a direct result of shameless branding, often precipitated by people who have no real knowledge of life as it is. Ironically, the most stereotyped group of minorities in America, is African-Americans. Those images fostered by hatemongers are incorrect and have caused suffering and damage over the decades.

When misconceptions come from respected leaders, people listen. Andrew Young is a role model of courage and commitment. Now he may be viewed by some as a man who accidentally or otherwise contributed to a stereotype of religious or ethnic groups that have been demonized for years by people who hate.

I was stunned by the comments. The real pity is that a man who has been so respected has managed to legitimize ethnic branding of the worst possible variety. He may consider it an overblown incident, but the truth is that his words will have impact and reinforce images that have been honed over the years by people who would rather divide than unite.

Comments Off

This story makes me so angry . It makes me furious especially when I remember what my best friend went through gasping for air in the last months of his life, succumbing to the horrible ravages of lung cancer. So I ask the question:

How can they, the corporate leaders of Loews Lorillard Division, Phillip Morris, R.J. Reynolds and British American Tobacco, look themselves in the mirror and deal with the fact that they produce and sell a killer substance? How can some of these companies buy ads that condemn smoking but still sell the cigarettes?

Once again, Big Tobacco companies have been exposed for what they’ve perpetrated on millions of Americans, but they will not pay.

Federal Judge Gladys Kessler ruled that the tobacco companies broke federal racketeering laws in a ten year conspiracy to hide the dangers of smoking. But the judge also ruled, that under law, she cannot force them to pay for damages and extraordinary pain that they have caused to people and the entire health care system.

The judge’s damning report is over 1600 pages long but there are two quotes that I want you to remember.

The judge said:

Cigarette smoking causes disease, suffering, and death. Despite internal recognition of this fact, defendants have publicly denied, distorted, and minimized the hazards of smoking for decades…. The companies pursued profits “with little, if any, regard for individual illness and suffering, soaring health costs, or the integrity of the legal system…”

And get this! The report says the companies deliberately destroyed evidence as part of this vast conspiracy.

So how do they pay? By court orders, the tobacco giants must place ads and commercials correcting their previous assertions about safety in cigarettes. Obviously these ads will have questionable credibility considering the sordid record of tobacco company candor.

A confession here: I am an ex smoker who hates to be around smoke. That would make me a reformed smoker and a reformed hypocrite who smoked many years ago with the full knowledge that it was destructive.

That was a forgettable part of my life. But I will not forget how tobacco companies LEGALLY precipitate illness and death.

And yes, it is true – people don’t have to smoke.. But do we as a nation have to continue to license a product that brings nightmarish episodes of sickness, and eventual death?

Comments(1)

If former schoolteacher John Mark Karr is the killer of JonBenet Ramsey, there is no question that along with investigators, people in the world of journalism have to shoulder much of the blame and shame of the ordeal suffered by the Ramsey family.

Karr was arrested in Thailand and is now considered the prime suspect in the brutal killing of the six year old beauty queen in Colorado. Her mother, Patsy Ramsey, died of cancer in June, and detectives say that she knew of the hunt for the suspect before her death.

Ten years is a long time, but no doubt you remember the feeding frenzy, especially by network newsmagazines, programs that practically indicted the Ramseys in their daughters death. All along, the Ramseys claimed an intruder probably murdered JonBenet.

There are other culprits in the vile game that was played out in the media with suspicion hovering above the Ramseys for years. The investigators in Boulder Colorado offered more than hints that the Ramseys were holding something back. That outrageous conduct by investigators fueled the suspicion that fired up the flames of heat seeking tabloid journalists.

By nature, we in the business of news are suspicious.  Being suspicious of wrongdoing has led to some of the greatest journalistic achievements of our time, but suspicion can also open the door to gross excesses of our power as journalists.  We may conjure up images of conspiracies, but until the proof is there, conspiracies and the reporting of phony suspects should be left up to the Oliver Stones of the world.

Americans hope for the best and sometimes expect the worst in people.

All of us suspected that the Ramseys were withholding information. But did we ever have proof of that? Did all those prime time news magazines ever have the “smoking gun.?” The answer to that is no. And the remedy for the malady of misinformation is to realize that when we don’t have all the facts, we can’t make presumptions of guilt on the basis of hearsay or reports from non-reputable sources.

Hopefully the arrest and prosecution will end the case of the murder of JonBenet Ramsey.  If the case is finally over, it might be  a good time for we in the business of reporting to find out what went wrong so hopefully we won’t allow it to happen again.

Comments(2)

John Bolton received what is known as a recess appointment by President Bush after the Senate rejected his nomination. And shortly, Bolton will come up for another Senate vote. I ask the question: why the fuss?

The original objections to Bolton were harsh. He was impertinent, non-diplomatic and sometimes abrasive in his other government positions. Great Senators, some of who I admire, vigorously opposed his nomination. Some suggested he would be like a bull in a china shop.

They were right. A bull in a china shop is exactly what was needed in the corrupt, prejudiced and tainted world body, an organization that understands genocide on a selective basis, and one that is extremely anti-American.

Bolton has done his job well, standing up eloquently for American backed causes and not sitting idly by during the superficial and double dealing by the hypocrites of the UN. If he is privately abrasive and hard to work with than that is something we as a viewing public have yet to discover. If he is nasty, then perhaps the experience has changed him. I doubt that. But I do know this: Bolton has been a very effective transmitter of America’s voice during a troubled time.

He probably deserves a second chance, although the Senators and Congessmen and women that I know will recommend I get committed for suggesting this.

The truth is that I only know Bolton from what he has done in public. And so far I like what I see. If likeability is something that precipitates success in running a government, than perhaps we should look at Jimmy Carter’s troubled four years in office, or the misdirections of George Bush number 41.

Performance should be the barometer of success. On that count, Bolton is doing very well thank you!

Comments(1)

Leadership is a cherished talent. Sometimes it comes naturally, and there are instances where it is learned and acquired from the example of others.

Since the murder rate has rapidly accelerated in Philadelphia, it has been fascinating to listen to the words and watch the actions of the city’s leaders who are reacting to the crisis. The Mayor’s primetime speech a few weeks ago was a good start, but it is hardly enough. The city cries out for SUSTAINED leadership to help stop the killings. Leadership is more than just a few meetings and a speech. It is consistent and concentrated activity generated on all fronts that can tackle this problem.

This needs to be priority one. Because of that, I refer you to an intriguing column in the Philadelphia Daily News by veteran columnist John Baer. I hope the Mayor reads it too.

Comments Off