http://detnews.com/article/20111213/METRO/112130435/1409/rss36
Muslims send letter requesting a meeting with Lowe’s
- BY ORALANDAR BRAND-WILLIAMS
- THE DETROIT NEWS
- COMMENTS
Dearborn—Muslim activists and community leaders have sent Lowe’s corporate officials a letter requesting a meeting regarding the decision by the home improvement chain to yank its ads from the Dearborn-based “All-American Muslim” reality show.
The show, which airs at 10 p.m. Sunday on the TLC cable network, follows the lives of five Muslim families in Dearborn.
“We sent a letter requesting a meeting between community leaders of various organizations including (the Council on American-Islamic Relations) to try to come to a resolution regarding the issue,” said Dawud Walid, the executive director of CAIR-Michigan Tuesday.
Walid said Tuesday no boycott against Lowe’s has been called.
Controversy erupted over the weekend after Lowe’s confirmed it had pulled its ads in response to some protests over the show.
The Florida Family Association, an evangelical Christian group took credit for the chain’s decision to pull its ads. The head of the group says it is responsible for getting 65 other advertisers to pull their support of the show as well but that has not been independently verified.
Lowe’s officials have apologized for the move but have not said it would reconsider its actions and reinstate its advertising.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, the leaders of the social-services organization ACCESS and the National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC) Tuesday announced said their groups will no longer accept donations from Lowe’s.
“While we understand that this was a corporate decision to pull advertising from the show, we feel that the Lowe’s position does not align with our values,” said Tonova in a press release Tuesday.
ACCESS Executive Director Hassan Jaber said Lowe’s’ actions are a contradiction to ACCESS’ local and national efforts to stamp out bigotry and stereotyping.
Check out this rap video response to this whole ridiculous affair: http://youtu.be/Nfhrca5KCxc