Readers respond: Apple’s mural move a hollow gesture

With all due respect for the powerful protest mural on Apple’s downtown store, Apple’s plan to protect and eventually donate the mural seems more like a publicity stunt than a big civic gesture (“Apple will preserve, donate George Floyd mural from downtown Portland store,� Dec. 23). It smacks of a Band-Aid being put on the large and long history of Apple’s elitism, even as we become ever more dangerously dependent on and addicted to its products.

This is not the first time the Apple’s downtown store has had a lengthy closure. During a “remodel� before the pandemic and protests, Apple boarded up its downtown store for many weeks. On the exterior, Apple painted a graphically cute message to its customers, inviting us to excitedly anticipate its downtown reopening and meanwhile visit Apple online or in the suburbs. What, Apple couldn’t find a rapid construction remodel team, or open a temporary downtown help center, or provide a shuttle bus to one of its suburban locations? So many other merchants with a fraction of Apple’s resources are struggling to remain safely open in downtown Portland. Apple can’t find a way? Of course, if Apple and its tech bros wired every Oregon community and gave every kid in need a laptop, we’d applaud its corporate largesse. Now that would be a real donation.

Louise Roman, Portland