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SYDNEY (AP) — Apple was facing accusations of racism in Australia on Thursday after a group of black teenagers was asked to leave a store in Melbourne when a staffer expressed concern they would shoplift.
The backlash against the technology giant began after one of the teens posted a video of Tuesday’s incident on his Facebook page, captioning it: “Simply Racism.”
In the video, a staffer is heard telling the teens: “These guys 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 asks.
“End of discussion,” the staffer replies. “I need to ask you to leave our store.”
The six teens, who are 10th grade students at nearby Maribyrnong College and are of African or Middle Eastern descent, did nothing to prompt the ejection, said principal Nick Scott, who spoke with the students about the incident.
“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.”
