Apple Diversity VP Apologizes For ‘White, Blue-Eyed, Blonde Men’ Remark

The tech industry has been working hard to revamp its workforce diversity for years and Apple’s initiative is often seen as an industry standard. However, a recent remark made by the vice-president of the company’s D&I initiative sparked a controversy by saying that a room full of white males could have diversity to it, as well.

The remark was made by Denise Young Smith, who is the first VP of Apple’s D&I initiative, Quartz reports. She made the statement during a recent panel that was supposed to talk about racial equality in the tech industry. Suffice it to say, it did not go well for Smith.

“There can be 12 white, blue-eyed, blonde men in a room and they’re going to be diverse too because they’re going to bring a different life experience and life perspective to the conversation,” she said.

By her own admission, afterward, Smith was not saying that diversity of thought was more important than actual diversity. However, this didn’t stop those who were avid supporters of the concept from latching onto the remark and pointing at it to supposedly prove their point.

For her part, Smith later offered an apology via email, which TechCrunch obtained. The statement was not taken as a positive by many in the tech industry, especially within Apple, itself.

“I regret the choice of words I used to make this point. I understand why some people took offense. My comments were not representative of how I think about diversity or how Apple sees it. For that, I’m sorry,” the email reads.

The biggest problem that a lot of people saw in her statement was the use of the “white, blue-eyed, blonde men” example. While it is by no means a malicious example from an entirely academic point of view, it still had the potential to do great harm to the diversity and equality movement.