Speaking Up on Racism • Hacker News Board

Re: Speaking Up on Racism

#11

Post by hpoe » Thu, Jun 04, 2020, 4:15 PM UTC

At first I wanted to dismiss this as empty corporate posturing. Which I am not going to entirely dismiss.

But then I paused because this wasn't an Apple PR announcement, but from the CEO himself, and one of the things I've found important in impacting change in large organizations is a loud, clear and consistent statement from Senior Leadership, if for no other reason than it gives the scurrying middle managers an idea of what they should try and focus on promoting and reporting, which then trickle down to the rest of the workers.

But again on the other hand what is Apple realistically going to do to change racism across America, after all Tim Cook and Apple aren't seen as societal but technology leaders, so maybe it is just empty virtue signaling to try and appeal to customers.

Can I also point out one other thing, among people that I know that lean more conservatively it appeared that they had a stronger reaction and seemed more united around the message of ending police brutality and police overreach and immunity than around the message of racism.

That's probably a complicated topic worthy of discussion in it's own right, but if we were to change the branding of this from ending racism to reforming and rethinking policing maybe we could get more traction. Although it might not address the underlying problem any improvement is good, after all a brick wall is built one brick at a time.

Re: Speaking Up on Racism

#12

Post by zepto » Thu, Jun 04, 2020, 4:16 PM UTC

awillen wrote: post #6

Am I the only one who's tired of these statements from corporations? I guess they're a relatively positive thing, but they feel so hollow. I got one from DoorDash yesterday, and it's tough not to roll my eyes at a company that has worked so hard to screw their drivers, many of whom are minorities, talk about how a food delivery service is fighting racism.

Yes, but it depends a lot on the company.

Re: Speaking Up on Racism

#13

Post by seemslegit » Thu, Jun 04, 2020, 4:17 PM UTC

Making this about racism is a self-serving distraction for many. This is about unaccountable abuse of power - something that Apple as a trillion-dollar gorilla is no stranger to.

Re: Speaking Up on Racism

#14

Post by kgraves » Thu, Jun 04, 2020, 4:17 PM UTC

zepto wrote: post #8

kgraves wrote: post #2

This is cool and black lives do matter but has anybody seen Apple's diversity numbers?

Of course, because they are public and trivial to google: https://www.apple.com/diversity/

But no improvement in over 3 years.

Not good enough.

I look forward to their 2020 numbers. Do better Apple.

Re: Speaking Up on Racism

#15

Post by hpoe » Thu, Jun 04, 2020, 4:19 PM UTC

frabbit wrote: post #3

This is a very brave and controversial stance of Apple to take. I shall be purchasing more of their brand.

I too feel the same way. Before the only thing that stopped me from buying an overpriced laptop with diminishing features and utility was ambiguity over the racism of the CEO. But now that I know the CEO of Apple is not racist because he made a webpage that said he was not racist I intend to convert my whole ecosystem over to Apple, I will be buying their new top of the line MacBook Pro with its sleep 16 inch screen and up to 8 core i7 processor.

Re: Speaking Up on Racism

#16

Post by kgraves » Thu, Jun 04, 2020, 4:20 PM UTC

awillen wrote: post #6

Am I the only one who's tired of these statements from corporations? I guess they're a relatively positive thing, but they feel so hollow. I got one from DoorDash yesterday, and it's tough not to roll my eyes at a company that has worked so hard to screw their drivers, many of whom are minorities, talk about how a food delivery service is fighting racism.

It's all empty gestures to me. Just like how VCs are now starting to invest in minorities. Spare me your fake sympathy.

Re: Speaking Up on Racism

#17

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jun 04, 2020, 4:21 PM UTC

Acrobatic_Road wrote: post #10

When are they going to speak up about Hong Kong, Uighur concentration camps, Tiannamen, etc?

[deleted]

Re: Speaking Up on Racism

#18

Post by clairity » Thu, Jun 04, 2020, 4:22 PM UTC

better than nothing, but so corporate-speak that it's hard to take seriously (as much as i'm bought in to the apple ecosystem).

it's a vision statement, not an action plan. that's ok, but it doesn't really put any skin in the game. it especially doesn't lay out any concrete outcomes they're committed to achieving. granted, it's not solely apple's job to change the world, but either commit or hold your chips. hedging doesn't help.

so mostly branding, like most CSR† initiatives (again, better than nothing, but not much).

† corporate social responsibility

Re: Speaking Up on Racism

#19

Post by chippy » Thu, Jun 04, 2020, 4:24 PM UTC

awillen wrote: post #6

Am I the only one who's tired of these statements from corporations? I guess they're a relatively positive thing, but they feel so hollow. I got one from DoorDash yesterday, and it's tough not to roll my eyes at a company that has worked so hard to screw their drivers, many of whom are minorities, talk about how a food delivery service is fighting racism.

I think the genre is "woke capitalism"

Re: Speaking Up on Racism

#20

Post by frabbit » Thu, Jun 04, 2020, 4:28 PM UTC

hpoe wrote: post #15

frabbit wrote: post #3

This is a very brave and controversial stance of Apple to take. I shall be purchasing more of their brand.

I too feel the same way. Before the only thing that stopped me from buying an overpriced laptop with diminishing features and utility was ambiguity over the racism of the CEO. But now that I know the CEO of Apple is not racist because he made a webpage that said he was not racist I intend to convert my whole ecosystem over to Apple, I will be buying their new top of the line MacBook Pro with its sleep 16 inch screen…

What about a phone?