"In Santa Monica, Calif., two friends looking to buy an iPhone were asked whether they were speaking..."

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 has not been taken over by xenophobes. The discrimination is one result of trying to enforce flawed and haphazard United States export controls against countries, like Iran, that are under sanctions. Retail employees are left to interpret and implement federal policy, and racial profiling results. At the moment, nearly all exports to Iran are prohibited. Traveling to Iran with items like computers and smartphones is illegal. Apple?s own policy, stated on its Web site, makes it very clear that its products can?t be sent there. But it is also illegal in the United States for a private company to discriminate against individuals based on race, color, religion or national origin under the Civil Rights Act. This protection extends of course to retail stores. Apple officials note that their diverse retail work force includes many multilingual employees ? including employees who speak Persian with customers ? and deny any discrimination. Apple also says that if employees ask customers how they plan to use a product, it is only to help meet their needs ? not to ensure compliance with export laws.

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Why Is Apple Discriminating Against Iranian-Americans? - NYTimes.com Wait, I might be 0.092983847389274759% Iranian, am I now allowed to used their fetishized stuff? I?m telling you, sanctions do not help in ?otherthrowing? the regime?it only hurts the people. In fact, this outlawing Iranians from Apple product is complete racism. Oh wait, it?s called a humanitarian racist intervention, right? (via overtheeventhorizon)

Source: http://theredhammerandsickle.tumblr.com/post/27166880225

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