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- Apple CEO Tim Cook has published an open letter on racism after facing criticism for not speaking up publicly on the death of George Floyd.
- In the letter, Cook describes a history of "deeply rooted discrimination" in America and says we must do more to "guarantee freedom from fear" for every person.
- The letter is very similar to a memo Cook sent Apple employees earlier this week.
- Cook's letter comes a few days after he was urged by tech billionaire Vinod Khosla to speak publicly about Apple's values, particularly given Cook's seemingly cordial relationship with President Donald Trump.
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Tim Cook has published an open letter on racism after he faced criticism for not speaking up publicly about the death of George Floyd and the protests that have followed.
The Apple CEO on Thursday published a post titled "Speaking up on racism," in which he describes a history of "deeply rooted discrimination" in America. While laws have changed in the US, Cook wrote, communities of color still experience trauma and feel afraid in their daily lives, and discrimination is still rampant in the criminal justice system, the healthcare system, and the education system.
"We can have no society worth celebrating unless we can guarantee freedom from fear for every person who gives this country their love, labor, and life," Cook wrote.
Cook said Apple must do more to help, including bringing its technology to underserved schools, fighting climate change, and focusing on diversity efforts internally. Additionally, Cook said, Apple is donating to organizations that fight racial injustice, like the Equal Justice Initiative.
Cook's public letter is similar to a memo he sent to employees earlier this week. In the memo, which was obtained by Bloomberg, Cook said Apple will match employee donations to organizations the support racial equality two-for-one throughout the month of June.
The letter comes just a few days after tech venture capitalist Vinod Khosla urged Cook to speak up publicly about Apple's values in light of the protests, particularly given Cook's seemingly cordial relationship with President Donald Trump, who appeared to call for violence against the demonstrators last week.
"It's easy to support equality & justice for all decent folks," Khosla tweeted on Monday. "It's when one has to give up something to support it that belief in our real values show up. @tim_cook easy to talk but why do you suck up to @realDonaldTrump? Memo's to employees is easy. Please retweet."
Khosla told Recode that Cook should be willing to support his words with "actions that might cost them something." Khosla said he'd love Cook to "comment on Trump's racist rants" and that Cook "cozied up to Trump to get tariff relief."
Cook has met with Trump on several occasions over the past few years, most notably last November when Trump toured Apple's new manufacturing plant in Texas with Cook.
You can read Cook's public letter in full below:Speaking up on racism
Right now, there is a pain deeply etched in the soul of our nation and in the hearts of millions. To stand together, we must stand up for one another, and recognize the fear, hurt, and outrage rightly provoked by the senseless killing of George Floyd and a much longer history of racism.
That painful past is still present today — not only in the form of violence, but in the everyday experience of deeply rooted discrimination. We see it in our criminal justice system, in the disproportionate toll of disease on Black and Brown communities, in the inequalities in neighborhood services and the educations our children receive.
While our laws have changed, the reality is that their protections are still not universally applied. We've seen progress since the America I grew up in, but it is similarly true that communities of color continue to endure discrimination and trauma.
I have heard from so many that you feel afraid — afraid in your communities, afraid in your daily lives, and, most cruelly of all, afraid in your own skin. We can have no society worth celebrating unless we can guarantee freedom from fear for every person who gives this country their love, labor, and life.
At Apple, our mission has been and always will be to create technology that empowers people to change the world for the better. We've always drawn strength from diversity, welcomed people from every walk of life to our stores around the world, and strived to build an Apple that is inclusive of everyone.
But we must do more. We commit to continuing our work to bring critical resources and technology to underserved school systems. We commit to continuing to fight the forces of environmental injustice — like climate change — which disproportionately harm Black communities and other communities of color. We commit to looking inward and pushing progress forward on inclusion and diversity, so that every great idea can be heard. And we're donating to organizations including the Equal Justice Initiative, which challenge racial injustice and mass incarceration.
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 — we see you. You matter and your lives matter.
This is a moment when many people may want nothing more than a return to normalcy, or to a status quo that is only comfortable if we avert our gaze from injustice. As difficult as it may be to admit, that desire is itself a sign of privilege. George Floyd's death is shocking and tragic proof that we must aim far higher than a "normal" future, and build one that lives up to the highest ideals of equality and justice.
In the words of Martin Luther King, "Every society has its protectors of status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions. Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change."
With every breath we take, we must commit to being that change, and to creating a better, more just world for everyone.
Tim Cook
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