The time for action on diversity has come

Last week, in a highly choreographed, tightly organized presentation, Apple rolled out the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. With the spotlights on and a global audience, Apple paraded a lineup of six white men to present its new products. Even the entertainment — U2 — was all white.

Women, American-Americans and people of color are major consumers of Apple products: the iPhone, iTunes music, iPod music players, iPads and more. Apple had a huge opportunity to demonstrate to millions around the world that it is committed to be as diverse as its customers are. It clearly didn’t even think about it.

Last month, Apple joined with a growing number of Silicon Valley firms to release its workforce diversity and inclusion data.Seventy percent of Apple’s global workforce is male; 65 percent of its leadership is white. Apple has a more diverse “non-tech” work force than most of the rest of the Valley. Yet CEO Tim Cook announced: “As CEO, I’m not satisfied with the numbers on this page. They’re not new to us, and we’ve been working hard to improve them.”

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