I thought it was disgraceful for Andrew Young to agree to become a shill for Wal-Mart. Now, as reported by the the Atlanta Journal-Constitution yesterday, some of his former civil rights compatriots are going public with their own criticism of Young’s making common cause with one of the worst corporate violators of civil rights, womens’ rights and unions rights:

By MARILYN GEEWAX
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WASHINGTON — The Rev. Joseph Lowery and dozens of other civil rights and religious leaders are signing a letter that condemns former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young for his work defending Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

The letter, which could still undergo some minor changes before being released today, said Wal-Mart has a “history of breaking child labor laws” and engages in “unethical” business practices. The company now is using Young “to try to turn our eyes from the truth,” it says.

Young, in his own letter to church officials released Monday, praised Wal-Mart for allowing poor people to be able to buy “low-cost fruits, vegetables, vitamins, medicines and clothing.”

Since February, Young has been serving as chairman of the steering committee for Working Families for Wal-Mart, a group that defends Wal-Mart’s business practices.

The letter invokes the name of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the revered civil rights leader who worked closely with Young during the height of the movement in the 1960s.

“Dr. King would have disagreed with Mr. Young on this issue — King sided with the poor,” says a passage from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. “Young is taking a stand against the poor and is siding with the filthy rich who are oppressing the poor.”