Apple Store in Australia Apologizes to Black Students It Ejected

 

Apple employees in Australia apologized Wednesday to a group of black students who were told to leave one of the company’s stores in Melbourne because of fears they would “steal something.”

“These guys are just a bit worried about your presence in our store,” an employee at the Apple store in a Melbourne suburb told the group, according to a video of the incident, which happened Tuesday.

The video, which one of the students later posted on Facebook, showed the employee speaking outside the store to the students while a member of the store’s security team looked on.

“They are just worried you might steal something,” the employee said.

“Why would we steal something?” asked one of the teenagers.

“End of discussion,” the Apple employee said. “I need to ask you to leave our store.”

The episode happened on Tuesday afternoon in Highpoint Shopping Centre in Maribyrnong, a suburb of Melbourne.

 

One of the students, Francis Ose, posted the video of the students being confronted on his Facebook page. He said the teenagers, a group of six, were later given an apology by the store.

Asked about the incident, Apple confirmed the apology and said it had looked into details of the matter.

“Inclusion and diversity are among Apple’s core values,” the statement said. “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,” it continued.

In an interview with the Australian broadcaster 9News, one of the youths said that they were all “shocked” at being told to leave.

“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,” the young man, Abdulahi Haji Ali, said.

“I didn’t believe what I heard.”

The teenagers were all students at Maribyrnong College, the equivalent of a high school in the United States. They were wearing school uniforms at the time, were invited back to the store on Wednesday with their principal, Nick Scott, and given an apology, 9News and another Australian news site, Star Weekly, reported.

Mr. Scott and the six boys met with a senior manager. “She apologized to us and told us that we are welcome here anytime,” Mabior Ater, a student, said. “It feels like we have justice now.”