Apple Store in Scotland renamed amid worldwide protests for racial equality
As citizens in countries around the world call for a reckoning on racial justice and equality, Apple on Friday quietly renamed its Apple Buchanan Street store in Scotland to a title not associated with the prominent local slave owner.
Apple Glasgow, formerly Apple Buchanan Street.
The name change was made official on Apple's retail website, which now lists the store as Apple Glasgow.
As noted by 9to5Mac, which spotted the modification earlier today, Apple will sometimes rebadge brick-and-mortar outlets after a move or when a host shopping mall changes its name. In this case, however, the Glasgow location is an independent storefront on Buchanan Street.
Though Apple has not commented on the matter, it is thought that ongoing protests prompted the change from Apple Buchanan Street to the less descriptive Apple Glasgow.
Emboldened by George Floyd's killing in the U.S., demonstrators in the UK have taken their calls for racial equality to the streets. Like many regions of Europe, Glasgow is not unaffected by former wrongs committed by slave owners, traders and others whose actions were morally questionable.
Buchanan Street is named after prominent businessman Andrew Buchanan, who owned and operated tobacco plantations in the U.S. The avenue, which is now a popular shopping destination, was built after his death on land owned by the family.
By changing the name of its store, Apple appears to be siding with protestors in the region who seek to change various street names associated with slave owners or figures who supported racial inequality.
The move comes one day after Apple CEO Tim Cook announced a $100 million Racial Equity and Justice Initiative to be led by Lisa Jackson, the company's vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives. Cook in a video posted to Twitter addressed the unrest seen across the nation, and now the world, following Floyd's death at the hands of police last month, saying Apple will be a force for good in the fight for racial equity and justice.
Apple Glasgow remains closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The store could reopen soon, as Apple plans to open the doors to 32 outlets in the UK on June 15.
Apple Glasgow, formerly Apple Buchanan Street.
The name change was made official on Apple's retail website, which now lists the store as Apple Glasgow.
As noted by 9to5Mac, which spotted the modification earlier today, Apple will sometimes rebadge brick-and-mortar outlets after a move or when a host shopping mall changes its name. In this case, however, the Glasgow location is an independent storefront on Buchanan Street.
Though Apple has not commented on the matter, it is thought that ongoing protests prompted the change from Apple Buchanan Street to the less descriptive Apple Glasgow.
Emboldened by George Floyd's killing in the U.S., demonstrators in the UK have taken their calls for racial equality to the streets. Like many regions of Europe, Glasgow is not unaffected by former wrongs committed by slave owners, traders and others whose actions were morally questionable.
Buchanan Street is named after prominent businessman Andrew Buchanan, who owned and operated tobacco plantations in the U.S. The avenue, which is now a popular shopping destination, was built after his death on land owned by the family.
By changing the name of its store, Apple appears to be siding with protestors in the region who seek to change various street names associated with slave owners or figures who supported racial inequality.
The move comes one day after Apple CEO Tim Cook announced a $100 million Racial Equity and Justice Initiative to be led by Lisa Jackson, the company's vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives. Cook in a video posted to Twitter addressed the unrest seen across the nation, and now the world, following Floyd's death at the hands of police last month, saying Apple will be a force for good in the fight for racial equity and justice.
Apple Glasgow remains closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The store could reopen soon, as Apple plans to open the doors to 32 outlets in the UK on June 15.
Comments
for highlighting the fact that the British established slavery in their colonies. Perhaps they can pay the reparations. Thanks for that, jerks.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-iran-mock-us-amid-ongoing-riots-i-cant-breathe/ar-BB14Oon0
Criticising others is easy. Taking a good look at yourself and making a change: that’s hard.
Yes, that’s right. He f**king can’t, so he wisely keeps his mouth shut and focuses on what he can change.
U.S. health agency reverses Obamacare transgender protections
There is a separate thread on propaganda being propagated via social media.
This is ridiculous argument.
The subjects of these monuments, military base names, etc, are not people who were simply alive at the time, they were people who trafficked slaves, advocated against abolishing slavery, and fought against our country to preserve their racist, bigoted ideals.
One big concern I have right now is as follows: if we judge the severity of concerns that we're faced with on a daily basis using a green-yellow-red alert scale (in order of increasing severity) we cannot simply call everything a red alert. We simply don't have the capacity to process everything as a red alert so we have to triage our reaction and responses to keep from driving everyone crazy. Some people may think that any kind of triage process is diminishing those things that are not assigned as being a red alert. What they fail to recognize is that calling everything a red alert normalizes all alerts. At some point people quit reacting at all because their ambient state of mind is always pegged in the red, i.e., full-on panic. When people are operating in panic mode they always make stupid mistakes and take shortcuts to ease their pain. We're not there yet, but it's getting near.
It's like how you talk about how impressive OJ Simpson was in American football, or what Henry Ford did for modernizing the moving assembly line, while still acknowledging that one is a murderer and the other an anti-Semite, respectively.