Apple Statements and Actions on #BlackLivesMatter
As protests surrounding the killing of George Floyd continue around the world, Apple last week joined the music industry in a âBlackout Tuesdayâ in support of Black voices and Black communities. All of Apple Musicâs screensâFor You, Browse, and Radio in the Music appâdisplayed just Appleâs statement and a single Listen Together button that played the Beats 1 radio station. It was a powerful and appropriate statement, and one that I hope we can all get behind.
You could still play music from Apple Music that you added to your library, and you could still search for and play artists, albums, and songs in Apple Music. Personally, I spent that afternoon listening to Aretha Franklin.
Apple has also collected a number of movies and documentaries in a Confronting Systemic Racism section in Apple TVâscroll down in Watch Now. (Amazon Prime has done something similar as well.)
Later in the week, Tim Cook penned an open letter, âSpeaking up on racism,â in which he acknowledges that weâre still living in a world underpinned by an âeveryday experience of deeply rooted discriminationâ and suggests:
To create change, we have to reexamine our own views and actions in light of a pain that is deeply felt but too often ignored. Issues of human dignity will not abide standing on the sidelines. To the Black community â we see you. You matter and your lives matter.
As much as these expressions of support are absolutely welcome, Apple, like many tech companies, has had trouble implementing its commitment to diversity in its US workforce, particularly in leadership roles. The company releases a regular report on its Inclusion & Diversity page detailing its progress in hiring what it calls âunderrepresented minoritiesââlook at the interactive chart at the bottom of the page for the numbers. Apple will undoubtedly be updating the page with figures from 2019 soon, and weâll cover it more thoroughly then.
For what itâs worth the weekly âpersonalizedâ mixes (Favorites, Chill, Get Up, New Music, etc.) that are usually at the top of the âFor Youâ section are available as playlists in the Library section.
Interesting. Iâm not seeing that.
Iâm closing comments on this article. Itâs coverage of Appleâs specific responses to the George Floyd protests, and the first few comments (now deleted) show that commentary was heading into the weeds right away.
A few updates on this situation:
https://twitter.com/tim_cook/status/1271113929754685441?s=20
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-17/apple-s-diversity-chief-leaves-as-tech-firms-reckon-with-racism