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Community Corner

Arab American Organizations Refuse Lowe's Donations

ACCESS and other nonprofits are pushing back after the home improvement store pulled their ads from "All-American Muslim."

The leaders of ACCESS and the National Network for Arab American Communities announced this week that their organizations will no longer accept donations from Lowe’s home improvement store.

The home improvement store's decision to pull its advertising from TLC reality show All-American Muslim has –the latest of which was NNAAC's decision to not align themselves with the store. Lowe’s made the move under pressure from the Florida Family Association, a fundamentalist Christian group that claims the program “riskily hides the Islamic agenda’s clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values.”

NNAAC Director Nadia Tonova made the announcement as a guest on WDET’s The Craig Fahle Show.

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“While we understand that this was a corporate decision to pull advertising from the show," she said, "we feel that the Lowe’s position does not align with our values."

NNAAC–which represents 22 nonprofit grassroots Arab American nonprofits nationwide–and its parent organization, Dearborn-based nonprofit , have accepted donations from local Lowe’s stores in support of community volunteer efforts, but Tonova said neither NNAAC nor ACCESS will to do so in the future.

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ACCESS Executive Director Hassan Jaber echoed the decision, saying that the actions of Lowe’s stand in direct contradiction to ACCESS’ local and national agenda to eradicate bigotry and stereotyping. 

Tonova said Lowe’s decision perpetuates bigotry and Islamophobia–a problem she said is “very much alive and well” in the United States, not just among fringe elements but also in mainstream political discourse including recent GOP presidential debates.

Jaber pointed to that trend as well in a column posted Friday on Huffington Post Detroit.

“When political leaders demonstrate that it's OK to tarnish an entire ethnic or religious group, xenophobic rhetoric enters the mainstream public discourse in a way that encourages intolerant and extreme reactions,” Jaber wrote.

Tonova said the Lowe’s issue presents a teachable moment for NNAAC, a coalition of Arab American organizations in 10 states and Washington DC.

“This is a great opportunity to stand up against this larger issue and educate the nation on Islam and our community," she said.

Two members of Congress have also issued statements criticizing the decision and insisting the ads be reinstated, and an online petition has garnered more than 20,000 signatures.

The petition calls on corporate sponsors of the TLC program to “stand up for our American values and fight back against bigotry and fear-mongering by publicly repudiating calls to stop advertising during TLC's All-American Muslim.

Both Jaber and Tonova have signed the petition, as have ACCESS CFO Maha Friej and ACCESS board president Wadad Abed.

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