Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview with Andrew Young
Aired June 28, 2003 - 09:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: Atlanta's first African-American mayor will be laid to rest today. Maynard Jackson died Monday of a heart attack. He was 65. And yesterday, funeral services were held for another political leader in Georgia, former governor Lester Maddox. And he died Wednesday at the age of 87.
Two men, of course, with very different influences on Georgia's history, one representing its future, the other its past.
For more, we're joined by the former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young, who knew both Jackson and Maddox.
Mr. Mayor, it's a pleasure to come in. I understand it's a difficult time for you. Thank you.
ANDREW YOUNG, FORMER MAYOR OF ATLANTA: Thank you very much.
OSBORN: Mayor Jackson had such a distinguished history, such -- of involvement in the civil rights, big proponent of affirmative action. Some of your thoughts and memories?
YOUNG: Well, Maynard Jackson was truly a visionary, a courageous aristocrat of a man. He was big in stature, but also he had big visions about what could happen in the South. And -- but he understood that if everybody doesn't participate in it, it's not going to work.
Actually, if you look at Iraq, Iraq could learn a lot from Atlanta. You can't run a country if Shi'ites and Sunni and Kurds don't have some fair way of distributing the opportunity.
Maynard showed us how to do that in our airport, and it went on in just about everything else, from the Olympics to everyday business and construction. And we're a much healthier city, because everybody's included in it.
OSBORN: He was known, of course, for such a big presence and a very beaming smile, six foot-three. Brought a lot of business to Atlanta as well.
YOUNG: He did.
But, you know, Lester Maddox also, while he was a part of the past, did make three significant contributions. One, he helped us with the Georgia World Congress Center. He was the first one to introduce Georgia industry and trade and start Georgia working internationally. And he helped us get through the mass transit referendum that gave us MARTA (ph).
So while they were working on different sides of the fence in many ways, they cooperated to make this a forward-moving region.
OSBORN: Now, I wanted to ask your thoughts as well about the late Senator Thurmond.
But first, one of the most powerful things, reading about Mayor Jackson, was his decision to enter politics, came on the birth of his first son, the same day that MARTIN LUTHER KING was buried. It's a real signature, if you will, of his involvement in civil rights.
YOUNG: It is, and Maynard was -- well, all of us were devastated with Martin's death, and I had been involved with him for the last eight years of his work. But I was, frankly, shell-shocked, and didn't know how we were going to carry on.
Maynard stepping up at that time really helped bail out the civil rights movement. I, two years later, three years later, ran for Congress, and he was then elected mayor. And we've been going on a steady stream ever since.
OSBORN: So the country is different today as a result of his efforts.
YOUNG: It is. I think that without all of this, Jimmy Carter nor Bill Clinton might have ever been president.
OSBORN: Now, you touched on Governor Maddox. A similar situation, if you will, the late Senator Thurmond, had an about-face, or gradually came to change certain perspectives with respect to race. Your thoughts on that?
YOUNG: Well, I think that Strom Thurmond was a Southern politician, and he served his community, black and white. In Washington, he used to say that he was responsible for the home rule bill of the District of Columbia, because he cast the tying vote to make home rule possible.
So for him, that was his civil rights contribution.
But I think of Lester Maddox as a populist. He had Little People's Day. He invited people to the governor's mansion on Kristmas morning from the prisons, gave them a Bible, and then gave them an early release, with a sermon to go and sin no more.
I never saw that kind of creativity from Strom Thurmond. But Maynard Jackson, Lester Maddox were characters in their own right. Strom's legacy is that he stayed around a long time.
OSBORN: Without question, 80-year political career.
Thank you so much, Andrew Young, former Atlanta mayor. It's a pleasure. Very important thoughts, of course, with the passing of three very significant figures in Southern politics. We appreciate your time.
YOUNG: Thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 28, 2003 - 09:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: Atlanta's first African-American mayor will be laid to rest today. Maynard Jackson died Monday of a heart attack. He was 65. And yesterday, funeral services were held for another political leader in Georgia, former governor Lester Maddox. And he died Wednesday at the age of 87.
Two men, of course, with very different influences on Georgia's history, one representing its future, the other its past.
For more, we're joined by the former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young, who knew both Jackson and Maddox.
Mr. Mayor, it's a pleasure to come in. I understand it's a difficult time for you. Thank you.
ANDREW YOUNG, FORMER MAYOR OF ATLANTA: Thank you very much.
OSBORN: Mayor Jackson had such a distinguished history, such -- of involvement in the civil rights, big proponent of affirmative action. Some of your thoughts and memories?
YOUNG: Well, Maynard Jackson was truly a visionary, a courageous aristocrat of a man. He was big in stature, but also he had big visions about what could happen in the South. And -- but he understood that if everybody doesn't participate in it, it's not going to work.
Actually, if you look at Iraq, Iraq could learn a lot from Atlanta. You can't run a country if Shi'ites and Sunni and Kurds don't have some fair way of distributing the opportunity.
Maynard showed us how to do that in our airport, and it went on in just about everything else, from the Olympics to everyday business and construction. And we're a much healthier city, because everybody's included in it.
OSBORN: He was known, of course, for such a big presence and a very beaming smile, six foot-three. Brought a lot of business to Atlanta as well.
YOUNG: He did.
But, you know, Lester Maddox also, while he was a part of the past, did make three significant contributions. One, he helped us with the Georgia World Congress Center. He was the first one to introduce Georgia industry and trade and start Georgia working internationally. And he helped us get through the mass transit referendum that gave us MARTA (ph).
So while they were working on different sides of the fence in many ways, they cooperated to make this a forward-moving region.
OSBORN: Now, I wanted to ask your thoughts as well about the late Senator Thurmond.
But first, one of the most powerful things, reading about Mayor Jackson, was his decision to enter politics, came on the birth of his first son, the same day that MARTIN LUTHER KING was buried. It's a real signature, if you will, of his involvement in civil rights.
YOUNG: It is, and Maynard was -- well, all of us were devastated with Martin's death, and I had been involved with him for the last eight years of his work. But I was, frankly, shell-shocked, and didn't know how we were going to carry on.
Maynard stepping up at that time really helped bail out the civil rights movement. I, two years later, three years later, ran for Congress, and he was then elected mayor. And we've been going on a steady stream ever since.
OSBORN: So the country is different today as a result of his efforts.
YOUNG: It is. I think that without all of this, Jimmy Carter nor Bill Clinton might have ever been president.
OSBORN: Now, you touched on Governor Maddox. A similar situation, if you will, the late Senator Thurmond, had an about-face, or gradually came to change certain perspectives with respect to race. Your thoughts on that?
YOUNG: Well, I think that Strom Thurmond was a Southern politician, and he served his community, black and white. In Washington, he used to say that he was responsible for the home rule bill of the District of Columbia, because he cast the tying vote to make home rule possible.
So for him, that was his civil rights contribution.
But I think of Lester Maddox as a populist. He had Little People's Day. He invited people to the governor's mansion on Kristmas morning from the prisons, gave them a Bible, and then gave them an early release, with a sermon to go and sin no more.
I never saw that kind of creativity from Strom Thurmond. But Maynard Jackson, Lester Maddox were characters in their own right. Strom's legacy is that he stayed around a long time.
OSBORN: Without question, 80-year political career.
Thank you so much, Andrew Young, former Atlanta mayor. It's a pleasure. Very important thoughts, of course, with the passing of three very significant figures in Southern politics. We appreciate your time.
YOUNG: Thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
