As a National Urban League Official in the Midwest and as a dean of social work at Atlanta University during the 1940s and 1950s, Young blended interracial mediation with direct protest. He demonstrated that these methods pursued together were the best tactics for the civil rights movement, then put them to work on a national scale upon becoming the executive director of the League in 1961.

In this position, Young forcefully alerted elite whites to the urgency of the black struggle for equality and urged them to spend federal, corporate, and foundation funds to lift residents in the nation's inner cities. Although he actively interacted with powerful whites, Young also drew support from middle- and working-class blacks who shared his belief in racial integration. As he navigated this middle ground Young came under fire from both black nationalists and white conservatives.