Leaf&Core

Conservative Shareholders Wanted to Force Board Members to Disclose Political Ideology. They Failed.

Danielle from Leaf and Core
Reading Time: 6 minutes.

Apple flying the rainbow flag for LGBT rightsApple doesn’t discriminate in their hiring processes. They believe scientists and doctors when they discuss gender theory and sexuality. Apple does not support racism. The company knows that a diverse workforce is a more innovative, more careful workforce that creates better products and higher profits. Apple does not deny basic elementary science. The company commits itself to green energies to reduce future costs and ensure the well-being of our planet. Apple supports women in the workplace, knowing that we make great employees and knowing that companies with more women outpace those without us.

It’s simple: Apple is at odds with conservative ideology because that’s how their business works.

On the surface, Apple looks progressive, but Apple’s just going with facts. It’s a fact that diversity improves a company. It’s a fact that the planet is getting warmer because of human emissions. Yes, it’s a fact that this will be bad for most of the existing life on this planet.The immutability of gender and sexuality is a widely accepted truth. Women, people of color, LGBTQ people, and immigrants improve a company, and they deserve the same respect that a native American, cisgender, heterosexual, young, white man would receive.

Apple is at odds with conservative ideology because of it’s culture. Because accepting people and improving the planet are good things to do. However, they’re also profitable. A few conservative shareholders just couldn’t deal with that.

Those minority conservative shareholders filed a motion for all Apple board members to disclose their political leanings. They took issue with Apple’s anti-hate and environmental projects. When Apple shareholders finally voted, only 1.7% aligned with these vocal bigots.

But what were they really trying to accomplish?

Anti-Hate, Anti-Discrimination

Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti-Defamation League

White nationalists, Nazis, and KKK members unite in Charlottesville, VA to defend a Confederate statute. Photo: Edu Bayer, New York Times

In the aftermath of the white supremacist rally (very good people, according to Trump) that killed one person in Charlottesville in 2017, Apple made a $1 million donation to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and Anti-Defamation League (ADL), each. SPLC teaches tollerance, monitors hate groups, and helps those who have faced discrimination seek justice in court. The ADL primarily fights anti-Semitism, but have grown to fight all forms of hatred and bigotry.

After neo Nazis and white supremacists marched through an American city, killing one person, injuring others, and damaging property, Tim Cook was quick to condemn their actions as well as Trump’s refusal to condemn hate. When Trump equated those fighting for hate and those fighting against it, Cook spoke up.

This upset those insulted by being called out for aligning with white supremacists and Nazis, apparently.

“We must not witness or permit such hate and bigotry in our country, and we must be unequivocal about it. This is not about the left or the right, conservative or liberal. It is about human decency and morality. I disagree with the president and others who believe that there is a moral equivalence between white supremacists and Nazis, and those who oppose them by standing up for human rights. Equating the two runs counter to our ideals as Americans.”

– Tim Cook, Apple CEO

These conservative members especially took issue with the $1 million that went to the Southern Poverty Law Center. SPLC labels hate groups and tracks their activities. One conservative called the SPLC a hate group, presumably for labeling white supremacist, Islamophobic, and religious anti-LGBTQ groups as hate groups.

Pride

Every year, Apple takes part in Pride. Apple celebrates their LGBTQ employees, and sponsors their march. They release rainbow Apple Watch bands (I wore mine to pride this year!) along with an Apple Watch face. Tim Cook himself came out publicly as a gay man to serve as a role model to young LGBTQ people who believe hate will indefinitely limit their opportunities.

This is a progressive standpoint though. Simply accepting people who love differently than heterosexuals do is too much for some on the far right. The fact that Apple, rightfully so, celebrates diversity and all that it has brought the company is too much for them. These were the issues conservative shareholders took issue with.

International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day is on Friday, March 8th. Leading up to it, Apple has shown apps, music, and art created by women. They’ll have special events at Apple Stores to celebrate the achievements of women. Women have been kept out of history books, denied jobs and promotions, and have not even had the right to vote in this country for 100 years. They’re still fighting for basic control of their bodies all over the world. They’re pushed out of education programs, harassed, and assaulted at rates that cisgender men can hardly fathom. That’s why diversity initiatives that celebrate the successes of women, despite these odds, are important.

Furthermore, companies need these programs to help diversity within their companies. Internalized and subconscious bias causes men to judge women more harshly than other men. This keeps them out of many scientific and engineering jobs. Women in tech looking for a job have a much harder time than men due to these biases.

Programs at companies like Apple and Google educate employees about these biases. These programs work. Without setting quotas, or banning men from applying, they help erase the subconscious biases of interviewers and lead to more women on the team. This increases diversity, innovation, and, ultimately, profits.

However, one shareholder, Justin Danhof, called Apple’s push to balance their team out “sexist and racist.” Apple’s trying better reflect the fact that 50% of the population is female and, while white people are the majority in this country, they’re over-represented. Apple is attempting to right a wrong, and Mr. Danhof has issues with those society had given nothing but disadvantages an equal chance at success. Erasing bias is not biased, it’s just the opposite. It erases inequalities.

Perhaps what Mr. Danhof really means is that he prefers those inequalities.

The Environment

Recycling

Over the past few years, every major Apple keynote has emphasized their commitment to improving the environment. One of those methods is recycling. Many of the materials in our phones can be recycled. This means that, when you’re done with your phone, Apple can use those parts to make a new one, instead of wasting the resources.

Like other moves that are good for the planet, this also leads to long term profits. As mining expenses grow, recycling expenses shrink as the upfront investment pays out. Apple’s not only doing the right thing to reduce waste and help the planet, they’re also doing something to help shareholders.

Unfortunately, for the vocal minority of far-right conservatives, this is a progressive view. To them, it doesn’t matter if it’s profitable or right, they just want to be against anything progressive, and it shows.

Green Energy

Apple’s new headquarters, Apple Park. Photo: Apple

Apple has also made huge investments in green energy. Their operations are powered 100% by renewable energy. The new Apple Park headquarters has solar panels, passive temperature control, and large areas of trees, grass, and other plant life. Apple has made it clear: they support clean energy and a zero emissions operation.

This leads to higher upfront costs, but saves the company over time. Of course, many are in favor of these initiatives based solely on the fact that climate change is real and has already cost us human lives and property, as well as countless animal species, including this adorable mouse, a species now gone forever. For those who are not influenced by the future of the planet, their children, the animal species here, or the impending and existing national security risks that climate change will impact, there’s the simple fact that making and selling your own electricity is more profitable in the long term than buying it, especially as energy needs grow.

Conservation

Did you know that Apple owns forests? Apple maintains forests for their cardboard packaging. This way, they can ensure that for all the paper and cardboard products they use, a tree is planted for every one they use. Currently, they haven’t met that goal. They’re not harvesting trees from these forests (yet), but instead using them to replace the trees that companies cut down to sell them paper products. Eventually, the company hopes to replace every tree they cut down with another tree.

This isn’t the most profitable decision until Apple can cut out the middleman selling them paper products. However, it is good publicity. People who actually care about the planet and the wildlife on it see this as a positive move, and are more likely to buy Apple products as a result. Conservative or liberal, it’s a win for Apple.

Fringe Conservative Backlash

An example of a fringe and hateful conservative position.

Let’s not kid ourselves, more than 1.7% of Apple’s shareholders are conservative. However, there are those with conservative leanings, and then there are those with hate in their hearts. Those who take issue with Apple’s anti-hate and anti-discrimination initiatives are putting their bigotry before facts and science. That’s not good for a company. Even those who might not like women, people of color, or LGBTQ people understand that Apple’s open and accepting atmosphere has always been a core part of the company’s alignment and success. Steve Jobs, a barefoot, vegan hippy cofounded Apple and set it right when the company fell behind. It’s that original vision of diversity being an asset, not an unobtainable goal or detractor to success, that has made Apple great.

As for the environment, green energy is also profitable. Apple can even generate more energy than they use, selling it back to the city. Green energy is an upfront cost with long term profits. Most of Apple’s investors are looking to long term wealth, not a quick buck.

Values Drive Progressives, Profits Drive Conservatives

Because of these facts, even Apple’s conservative members are on board with Apple’s diversity and green initiatives. They’re profitable. While they do not share the same views of right and wrong as progressives, who know that doing the right thing for people and the planet is the only option, they do want to make money. That’s enough to align them with the often progressive decisions of Apple’s board.

Apple continues to set an example for what a tech company should be: open, diverse, innovative, and ecological. They have more room to grow, they are not without fault. The company still could reduce waste by making their products more easy to repair and upgrade, and they could fight harder for women’s rights by banning apps made to oppress women from the App Store, but they’re moving in the right direction. 1.7% of their shareholders, however, are stuck in their ways and too bigoted to change. Fortunately, their numbers are few.

“Dr. Martin Luther King said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.” So, we will continue to speak up. These have been dark days, but I remain as optimistic as ever that the future is bright. Apple can and will play an important role in bringing about positive change.”

– Tim Cook, Apple CEO

Sources:

Exit mobile version