Apple is coming under scrutiny for a professional development program it is offering only to white males that specifically excludes women and Hispanic and black people. Just kidding. If Apple did that, it would be roundly condemned and possibly investigated by federal law enforcement for civil rights violations. 

It is, however, doing the opposite and largely getting away with it. 

This September, Apple is offering a series of professional development opportunities for app developers, dubbed its “Apple Entrepreneur Camp,” which is only open to “underrepresented” entrepreneurs or “female” entrepreneurs. In short, white and Asian male developers are categorically excluded from an invaluable opportunity to learn from top experts at one of America’s most innovative tech companies. 

There’s a caveat to the “female” eligibility, however. Apple put an asterisk after “female” when laying out its eligibility criteria, and if you follow that asterisk to the bottom of the web page, in tiny font, you’ll find: “Apple believes that gender expression is a fundamental right. We welcome all women to apply to this program.”

So, you don’t actually have to be “female,” a term that refers to biological sex, not gender identity, to qualify for Apple’s “female founders” opportunities. You just have to identify as a woman, meaning that some Asian and white males are eligible, but only the ones who identify as women. 

Essentially, just “cisgender,” meaning not transgender, Asian and white men are excluded from Apple’s entrepreneurship camp. Because what could better embody diversity, equity, and inclusion than … specifically excluding people because of their immutable characteristics? 

The first problem here is the glaring hypocrisy. If the races and genders were reversed, it’s hard to imagine that a company engaging in this type of blatantly discriminatory behavior would ever be socially tolerated, and it may even come under serious legal scrutiny. 

The second problem is that these kinds of programs actually sabotage societal progress toward a race-blind and equal society. Instead of letting what should be largely irrelevant demographic characteristics fade into the background over time, this kind of identity-first approach to business reinforces these identity categories as meaningful distinctions between human beings and fosters further resentment and tension between groups. 

There are better, less divisive ways to increase diversity than through openly discriminatory business practices. For example, Apple could increase its recruitment efforts targeted at historically black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, to grow the diversity of the network that then enters into a merit-based system. 

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And, of course, companies should make sure they are not discriminating in any direction or maintaining any obstacles to minority candidates from entering the field. This kind of approach would allow a company to pursue a diverse workforce, which does have benefits, without engaging in immoral and divisive practices that treat groups differently. 

Ultimately, one app development program is not of earth-shattering consequence, even one at one of America’s most influential companies. But this saga is yet another example of just how deeply embedded toxic left-wing ideology has become in our institutions, even in corporate America. 

Brad Polumbo (@Brad_Polumbo) is an independent journalist, YouTuber, the co-founder of BASEDPolitics, and a Steamboat Institute Blankley Fellow.