Young Now and ThenMaimon Schwarzschild

A Korean grocery association is suing Andrew Young for libel.  The law doesn’t usually recognise “group libel” — it’s only actionable if you defame specific people — so the suit presumably won’t get very far.  But it’s a sad reminder of Young’s sad trajectory.  In the heroic days of the civil rights movement, Young  was probably Martin Luther King’s closest lieutenant.  Young had an air of sophistication and elegance as well of intellectual calibre.  He is perhaps not alone in exemplifying a curdled, no-longer-admirable liberalism.