Racism at Lowe's [View all]

This is an email I just sent to Marvin Ellison, CEO of Lowe's--who happens to be a black man:

Dear Mr. Ellison,

Organized Democrats generally shop at Lowe's rather than Home Depot for political reasons; my husband and I have not shopped at Home Depot since the second George Bush administration. We shop at the Langhorne PA Lowe's and have always been treated with respect and even friendliness by the staff. We are white.

Our friend, Sam (I am omitting his last name because he does not know I'm writing this) is a black man who works two jobs (he is a counselor at a nationally-recognized residential school for people with disabilities and a personal trainer at a prestigious national chain of gyms) in order to support a charity he founded several years ago in Liberia, where he was born. He has made it his mission to help his native village become independent and prosperous through supplying them with modern farming equipment, educational materials for the school, and general donations of clothing and household goods. He has even raised enough money through his salaries and donations to send them a truck.

He was in our local Lowe's looking at marked-down items he might buy to send to Liberia. He saw a sink in the sale aisle which had been reduced in price because the packaging was damaged. He further opened the box to see how badly damaged the sink itself was. Two salesmen swooped down on him and asked if he needed help. He said no, he was just trying to see what the sink looked like. The two men lingered nearby until he was so uncomfortable he left the store.

I have never been approached by a salesperson at Lowe's. It is a busy store, and I have always had to flag down someone when I've needed help finding something or getting information.

Sam's story made me sad and ashamed, and I think Lowe's owes him an apology.

Sincerely,


cc: democraticunderground.com