Odin's B-Log

mohandasgandhi:

arielnietzsche:

“Very hurtful, very embarrassing. I actually walked out in tears.”
~Sahar Sabet

I find this tremendously offensive on so many levels; an American is an American regardless of their nationality.  By the way “Persian” is “Iranian.  There are as many as 1.5 million Iranian-Americans in this country; 50% of them have a college degree or higher as compared to the national average of 24%.  There have been multiple incidents of Iranian-Americans speaking Farsi in an Apple store and when asked if they were Iranian (although most tend to prefer the term Persian) … they were told that Apple’s policy is that they would not sell Apple products to Iranians due to America’s embargo on Iran.  By this standard – Apple shouldn’t allow Cubans or Koreans to buy Apple products either and IT IS in their company policy.

“Discrimination. Racially profiled. He didn’t have any business asking me what country I was from.”
~Sahar Sabet 

So – Apple has chosen to discriminate against Americans because of their blood line … even if they’re American.  If they speak Farsi … sorry – you’re probably a terrorist.  How do you tell an American who may have never even been to Iran or maybe hasn’t been there since they were kids that they’re just too ethnic to buy an Apple product.  Or does being an American now only mean being WHITE or Christian?  This IS what bigotry and racism looks like.

The NY Times has the story HERE:

Last month, Sahar Sabet, a 19-year-old Iranian-American woman, was improperly prevented from buying an iPad at an Apple store in Alpharetta, Ga. After she had gone over the various options with two Apple sales clerks, a third clerk, who had overheard Ms. Sabet speaking Persian to her uncle, intervened. He asked what language they were speaking and, when he found out it was the language of Iran, he said she could not buy anything because “our countries do not have good relations” — never mind that she intended to give it to her sister in North Carolina. A local news account had Ms. Sabet describing a cousin in Iran as the intended recipient, an inaccuracy that was propagated last week in a Wall Street Journal opinion article defending Apple’s discriminatory behavior.

In Santa Monica, Calif., two friends looking to buy an iPhone were asked whether they were speaking Persian and promptly informed, “I am sorry, we don’t sell to Persians.” In Sacramento, an Iranian-American man looking to buy Apple products for personal use mentioned that he was also thinking about buying an iPod for his nephew in Iran and was told he could not buy anything, even for himself. An Iranian student in Atlanta, and his Iranian-American friend, were not permitted to buy an iPhone after the friend, under questioning, mentioned that the student planned to return to Iran for the summer.

Apple’s policy states HERE:

PROHIBITED DESTINATIONS
The U.S. holds complete embargoes against Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria

The exportation, reexportation, sale or supply, directly or indirectly, from the United States, or by a U.S. person wherever located, of any Apple goods, software, technology (including technical data), or services to any of these countries is strictly prohibited without prior authorization by the U.S. Government. This prohibition also applies to any Apple owned subsidiary or any subsidiary employee worldwide.

DENIED PARTIES
Apple products may not be exported or re-exported to anyone on the U.S. Treasury Department’s list of Specially Designated Nationals or the U.S. Department of Commerce Denied Person’s List or Entity List.

Well, as an Iranian-American, I don’t buy products from bigots.

(Source: jayaprada)