Civil Rights Leader Andrew Young Remains a Debated Figure Decades After His Work Alongside Martin Luther King Jr.
This might be the unsaid legacy of Andrew Young who often gets lionized by the elite. However, for many Andrew Young was also one who has lost his way over the years. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, Martin Luther King needed someone to run “interference” for the movement.
This interference often meant that who ever was appointed would have to do things that often placed one on the wrong side of righteousness. That task, called “dirty work,” was given to Andrew Young. What was described as dirty work, does not seem dirty at all on the surface, but the parts he did not wish to talk about was very wrong and dirty.
Dirty Dealings With African Governments
Andrew Young, a confidant of Martin Luther King Jr., came under criticism for his dirty dealings with corrupt African dictatorial governments, especially for his close relationship with General Olusegan Obasanjo, Nigeria’s one-time president. Critics maintain that the general oversaw human rights abuses, and that the president consolidated his personal power at the expense of everyday Nigerians. Some years back, Ken Silverstein, a reporter for Harper’s Magazine said,
As I see it, the primary beneficiaries of his work in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa are those corrupt, authoritarian regimes he works with and his private corporate clients.
Young engaged in dirty work that made himself plenty of money while ignoring the corrupt and anti-democratic politics of certain African leaders. His services were done through a business he helped to set up that enriched himself after leaving the Ambassadorship to the United Nations. Young set up relationships with various blood-soaked strongmen in order to secure American global interests on the African continent.
“Unlovable Little Brats”
It got worse, young carried the idea of dirty work into attacking the Black Lives Matter organization. He criticized protesters with Black Lives Matter in 2016, calling them as “unlovable little brats.” These ridiculous remarks were criticized by the Georgia NAACP, who labeled them “belittling.”
Even though he eventually apologized, the harm was done. His remarks put him directly on the side of racist police officers that needed a Black face to shore up the actions of police brutality. Apparently MLK knew of his mindset and used his weaknesses to help the movement.
MLK’s Sons File Lawsuit
In 2006, Andrew Young was hired to improve Walmart’s image as head of “Working Families for Wal-Mart.” He resigned rather quickly after making offensive remarks about other ethnic groups. Young apologized and resigned. Once again, he flew into the dirty work. Also, the sons of Martin Luther King Jr. filed a lawsuit in 2013, that in part requested that Young be kick out of the board of directors of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change. King often insisted Young remain free to navigate between factions, and “carry messages from the jailhouse to the boardroom.” Young recalled that King said he needed someone “on the right.”
Related: Segregation Was Not Protection
”Hustler” Vs. “Church Boy”
Young once again showed poor judgement when he characterized the differences between Malcolm X and MLK as the “Hustler” vs. “Church Boy.” Some reactions to Young’s reflections in late 2025 highlighted a negative image that compared Malcolm as a “hustler” to King’s more traditional college boy status.
Andrew Young stated that while Martin Luther King Jr. was educated in college, Malcolm X was educated in prison. Stokley Carmichael, a proponent of radical, independent Black political power, viewed Young’s mainstream “dirty” approach “as counter to the goals of true Black liberation.” Young was often referred to as “Chicken Young” for various reasons. This friction was a continuation of the 1960s conflicts between SNCC, and SCLC, which Young helped lead.
