If you are coming to Nashville, please do not stay at the Lowe's Vanderbilt. If you are going to be doing any traveling, please do not stay at a Lowe's anywhere. If you already have reservations, please cancel them. If you are a meeting planner, please consider moving your meeting. I am urging a boycott of Lowe's because they cancelled a contract with ACT, the day before the conference.
Let me make clear that I am not a member of ACT and I have never contributed to their cause. I have attended one of their presentations and found if informative but am not convinced that they do not exaggerate the threat from Muslim Americans. Knowing that Muslim extremist in Europe have recruited terrorist from among European Muslim, I am not so naïve as to think that immigrant Muslims could not be potential terrorist recruits in America. I support vigilance on the part of our government to keep us safe from terrorism. However, I am not as alarmed as ACT by the Muslim population in our midst. I do not accept that it is the Muslim faith that is our enemy. I have known some Muslims and have helped several Muslims become homeowner in the homebuyer education classes that I teach. The agency I work for has had many Kurdish and Somali refugees in the English as a Second Language classes that we provide. I support dialogue with and an understanding of our Muslim neighbors. I believe a Muslim can be a good Americans.
Unlike ACT, I was not outraged that Tyson’s Food’s let their Muslim employees have a Muslim holiday in place of Labor Day. I did not support English-only. So, I am tolerant if not somewhat liberal on immigration issues. Political correctness should not blind us to a genunine security theat but neither should concern over a perceived terrorist threat promote bigotry in America. We should not paint all of a group with the same brush.
So, while I think ACT may be providing awarness the public needs, I am not an enthusiastic supporter of ACT. I am, nevertheless, outraged that Lowe's would contract months in advance with ACT for them to have a conference at their hotel and then cancel the day before the event. Mr. Negri needs to be fired or reprimanded and ACT deserves an apology. Letting someone rent space from you does not imply an endorsement. Mr. Negri should not allow his own political prejudices to dictate to whom he rents and especially he should not be allowed to cancel a contract at the last minuet.
Here is the story from ACT:
ACTION ALERT! ACT! West Nashville Chapter
Freedom of Speech attacked in Nashville by Mr. Thomas Negri, Manager of Lowe's Vanderbilt Plaza Hotel. 1 June 2009
It's Time to Speak Up and Be Heard! We must react to this! This breach of our rights to free speech must not be ignored.
Here are the facts as reported by Ken Timmerman at Newsmax:
The manager of the Lowe's Vanderbilt Plaza Hotel, Mr. Tom Negri, cancelled a contract with a conservative foundation to hold a conference this weekend on radical Islam, apparently after learning that the group would feature a keynote address by controversial Dutch parliamentarian and filmmaker, Geert Wilders.
Thomas A. Negri, managing director of Loew's Vanderbilt Hotel and Office complex in Nashville, told Newsmax on Wednesday that he had taken the extraordinary step of cancelling the conference at the last minute "for the health, safety and well-being of our guests and employees." Negri did, however, allow a press conference today by the Coalition for Education about Immigration, a left-wing group involved with "immigration reform".
Negri refused to say why he felt the conference would adversely affect the "health, safety and well-being" of the hotel's guests and employees, except to refer to the website of the New English Review, the group organizing the conference. The website features articles that warn about radical Islam written by activists, journalists and scholars, including former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy, and former Muslim scholar, Ibn Warraq.
One article, written by a retired U.S. army intelligence officer, Jerome Gordon, warns of the growing problems caused by the recent influence of several thousand Somali Muslim refugees who have come to work for a nearby Tysons Food plant to replace illegal Hispanic meat packers.
Negri appeared at a 2003 pro-immigration event on the same dias with a well-known Somali warlord, Gordon told Newsmax. In a written statement to the conference organizers, Negri said that the hotel had "not received any information related to a specific security threat concerning this event," and declined to provide any justification for cancelling it at the last minute.
One of the conference organizers told Newsmax on Wednesday that the group was considering a lawsuit against Negri and the Loew's hotel chain for "unlawful breach of contract." Negri also serves on the board of advisors of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, TIRRC, an activist group that states its mission "is to empower immigrants and refugees throughout Tennessee to develop a unified voice" and "defend their rights." The group boasts of having helped to defeat an "English only" amendment this January that would have required all Nashville government communications to be in English. Earlier this month, the group won an award from the Migration Policy Institute, which is funded by grants form the J.M. Kaplan Fund, a left-wing group that also funds the ACLU, the Tides Foundation, the Tides Center, the Sierra Club, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and other left-wing causes. The award singles out TIRRC for its "Welcoming Tennessee Initiative," to "foster constructive public dialogue on immigration within the state." When asked if he objected to Geert Wilders appearance at the conference, Negri refused to comment.
Action Items:
Contact Mr. Negri at tnegri@lowesvanderbilthotel.com
Contact the Front Desk Manager at Lowes dhuffins@lowesvanderbilthotel.com
Call Lowes Corporation public affairs office: Public Affairs Contact, 667 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10065-8087, Phone: (212) 521-2416 , PR@loews.com
Call or Write Mr. Jonathan M. Tisch, Co-Chairman of the Board and Member of the Office of the President, Loews Corporation Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Loews Hotels, 667 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10065-8087, Phone: (212) 521-2000.
Write to Tommy Tisch at Lowe's Corporation (described as the one "conservative" in the Tisch family that owns Lowes Corporation) Mr. Tommy Tisch, Loews Corporation, 667 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10021-808.
Contact the Nashville Better Business Bureau, Middle Tennessee Headquarters 201 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 100, P.O. Box 198436, Nashville, TN 37219, Phone (615) 242-4222,Fax (615) 250-4245, Email BBBNash@aol.com
Call the local ACLU in Nashville(615) 320-7142
About ACT! for America, West Nashville Chapter contact us!
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