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12/22/2024 06:01:10 pm

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Apple Accused of Racism After Black Teens Kicked Out of Australia Store Because Staff Thought They 'Might Steal Something'

Apple Racism

(Photo : Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images) The manager of an Apple store in Australia has apologized after a group of black teens were prevented from entering the outlet because an employee felt they "might steal something."

Apple is facing racism allegations in Australia after a staff prevented a group of black teens from entering one of the company's stores in Melbourne because he feared they "might steal something."

The backlash began after a video surfaced of the exchanges between the Highpoint Apple store employee and the black teens. The video, which was posted on Facebook on Tuesday night, was captioned: "Simply Racism."

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The six boys, who are reportedly 10th graders studying in Maribyrnong College, were prevented from entering the store by two security personnel and an employee. The employee is heard explaining to the teenagers in the video that "These guys [security guards] are just a bit worried about your presence in our store. They're just worried you might steal something."

"Why would we steal something?" one of the teens reacted in disbelief.

"End of discussion," the staff replied. "I need to ask you to leave our store."

The teens, who are of African and Middle Eastern descent, did not do anything after they were rejected, according to their school principal Nick Scott. Scott reportedly spoke with the teens regarding the incident.

He said the teens believe they were targeted because of their skin color. "I'm inclined to agree there was an implicit kind of racist response that just generalized an expectation of how they would behave," he said.

"What those boys were doing in that Apple store was no different to what every other kid does in that Apple store, which is fawning over really cool devices, playing with them, taking photos of each other," Scott said. "Just kids being kids and certainly being no different to quite a few other kids at the time."

After the incident, Scott contacted the store and accompanied the students back to the store to help them seek an apology on Wednesday.

In an interview with Fairfax Media, Mabior Ater, one of the teens, said he has been going to the Highpoint shopping centre for a long time. "I never thought something like this would happen... of course I was offended," he said.

"[The manager] apologized to us and told us that we are welcomed here anytime," he said. "It feels like we have justice now."

Ryan Ling, Highpoint Centre Manager, said: "Melbourne's West is a multicultural area and we want to stress that Highpoint welcomes all guests."

Mabior admitted it was not his first time he has experienced racism but "this is the first time it has been this big." He was surprised by the overwhelming support for him and his friends on social media.

"A lot of people shared it (the video) and they were very angry that this was still happening in 2015," he said.

Apple has refused to comment on the incident. As of writing, the video has been viewed nearly 64,000 times, and has elicited varied reactions from netizens.

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