*A racial incident involving a group of black students at an Apple store in Melbourne, Australia has resulted in an apology from the technology company.
The incident occurred earlier this week as an employee of the store approached the students, who were suspected of theft.
“These guys are just a bit worried about your presence in our store,” the employee told the students, later stating, “They are just worried you might steal something.”
Questioning the employee, one of the students asked, “Why would we steal something?”
“End of discussion,” the Apple store worker replied. “I need to ask you to leave our store.”
Video footage of the incident made its way onto social media where it went viral Thursday afternoon (Nov. 12). In response to the situation, Apple ultimately issued the following apology:
“Inclusion and diversity are among Apple’s core values. We believe in equality for everyone, regardless of race, age, gender, gender identity, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. That applies throughout our company, around the world with no exceptions. We will continue to do everything in our power to ensure all our customers are treated the way they should be.”
Recalling what happened, one of the students, Abdulahi Haji Ali, voiced his opposition to being stereotyped by the employee.
“Because we were a group of black males – teenagers – and teenagers do a lot of stupid stuff but you still can’t give black people that stereotype,” he told 9NEWS. “Once we heard that we are all pretty shocked… I didn’t believe what I heard.”
“It’s not fair,” Ali’s friend, Mabior Ater added, “not everybody is a bad person because of what they look like.”
To see the footage of the Apple store incident, check out the video below:
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