Clergy 'very pleased' after protest meeting with Lowe's

Three Charlotte-area ministers say they “felt we were heard” when they presented a petition to officials of Mooresville-based Lowe’s on Tuesday, lodging a formal protest to the company’s recent pulling of advertising from a cable television show called “All-American Muslim.”

The clergy members — Pastor Russ Dean of Park Road Baptist Church in Charlotte, the Rev. Jay Leach of Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte and the Rev. Dennis Teall-Fleming of Open Hearts Gathering in Gastonia — hand-delivered a petition to Lowe’s officials which the clergy said contained 200,000 signatures.

They said the petition was started by two Muslim women from Washington and was coordinated by several organizations. The petition protests Lowe’s removal of on-air advertising from the TLC show, which caused a national firestorm of protest.

The clergy members gathered at the main gate at Lowe’s then were escorted inside to meet with vice presidents Chris Ahearn and Tom Lamb. The meeting lasted more than an hour, after which the group addressed the media.

“We had a great dialogue this morning already by phone and encouraged the ministers to come to the campus so we could meet and continue our discussions,” said Julie Yenichek, Lowe's public relations director. “We’re happy to have them here and explain our business decision and apologize once again.”

After the meeting, Ahearn said she was appreciative that the ministers gave Lowe’s the opportunity to “listen and share the truth concerning our advertising decision.”

“We are a company that encourages diversity and inclusion, and it was wonderful to share a good dialogue about our intentions,” Ahearn added. “Our decision to pull advertising had nothing to do with the content of the show, but the controversy surrounding the show that was emerging from social and news media.

“We wanted to set the record straight because Lowe’s believes in diversity and we have since apologized to the community for misconceptions surrounding our decision.”

Dean said Lowe’s “has been very open and respectful of our concerns and welcomed us for an hour of conversation. It was a great example of religious and corporate communication and what we hoped to achieve.”

Leach agreed. “There was very productive dialogue and we felt that we were heard. We believe pluralism is a deep American value and hope Lowe’s continues to share our commitment. We’ve been very graciously hosted and did not come in with a hostile agenda; we’re very pleased at how things turned out.”

Dean said the majority of their conversation concerned the “importance of diversity,” not necessarily about Muslim-Americans.

“Lowe’s has a long history of diversity and a long-standing respect of the rights of all our customers, no matter their political or religious beliefs,” said Ahearn. “It was an advertising decision that has been mischaracterized and we appreciate the opportunity for an ongoing dialogue.

“We have apologized a number of times, because we truly do believe in diversity.”

Added Dean, “It was admitted that the situation was handled clumsily but it was important to sit down and talk, because what happened was not true to the values Lowe’s has always portrayed.”

“We also admit that we responded to misinformation and knew that the company was better than they’ve been portrayed lately,” said Leach. “This was never a battle; we just wanted to reaffirm Lowe’s commitment to diversity.”

Dean said the clergy “respected (Lowe’s) business decision,” even if they didn’t agree with it.

“It was explained to us thoroughly why they made the decision that they did, and it’s not in contradiction to their values,” he said.