“Three teenagers walk into an Apple Store.” I’m afraid this isn’t the start of a joke. In fact, there’s nothing funny about this story.
In Melbourne, Australia, three black male teenagers go to an Apple Store. The teens are from Sudan and Somalia. A white manager insisted these teens leave the store immediately. The manager was scared the teens might steal something. And because this unfortunate incident was caught on camera, it didn’t take long before the footage reached Apple CEO Tim Cook. Cook wrote an email addressing the sorry episode, calling it ‘unacceptable’. The manager and the company apologized to the teens. Cook reassured these values aren’t what Apple is about. The next day, a senior manager named Kate met with the young men. Kate told these guys, and their classmates, that they would be welcomed at the Apple Store Highpoint at anytime. The teens graciously accepted the apology and said, “It feels like we have justice now.” Cook believes what the first manager did was an isolated incident . He points out this particular store has employees from nine nations who speak 15 languages. Tim Cook closed his letter by stating customer service and respect are at the core of everything Apple does.
I like how Tim Cook and Kate handled this ugly situation, and kept it from getting uglier. I’m proud of these teenagers for choosing forgiveness over retribution. I’m glad the manager in question apologized. When I think about Tim Cook’s upbringing, this is the email we should expect. But this incident speaks to something way beyond business customs, rules, and respect. It speaks to an issue of the human heart. That man that turned away those kids only reveled what brewed in his heart. What you have hidden in your heart will eventually come out, and often times what comes out is brutal and nasty. We’re not going to rid ourselves, or the world, of racism through passing laws and policies, as necessary as these laws and policies are. Those are there to maintain order and fairness. But true change starts with the man or woman in the mirror. What’s in your heart?