On Thursday, Apple CEO Tim Cook released an open letter to address the current unrest due to the killing of George Floyd. A link to the letter, titled “Speaking up on racism,” occupies the top promotional spot on the Apple.com homepage.
The letter acknowledges the “senseless killing of George Floyd” but is primarily concerned with the longer history of racism and the way it is, in Cook’s words, “still present today—not only in the form of violence, but in the everyday experience of deeply rooted discrimination.”
Cook’s statement comes on the heels of many such letters from corporate brands and their leaders. Compared to most of them, the statement from the CEO of the most valuable company in the U.S. is fairly modest (it certainly lacks the verve and specific calls to action of the statement from Ben and Jerry’s, for example). It acknowledges both the current firestorm and the larger systemic issue, while mentioning donations to “organizations like the Equal Justice Initiative.”
