It's Not About _____

An Open Letter to Apple on Behalf of ______ Everywhere

Mr. Cook et al,

My name is ___ and I'm writing in regards to your recent takedown of apps and games featuring a certain kind of _____ in the App Store. I apologize for the unorthodox presentation; the article will reference said ____ as well as other _____ & symbols you've recently encouraged removing from our language. As opposed to, for example, understanding their regretful place in our nation's history. I worry whether these words are banned from use at Apple offices - if there is some filter that would prevent the reading of this article. Therefore to increase the likelihood of your edification, I'm censoring myself.

Put another way: I am removing words from this article so you will at least obtain some, if not all, of this information. Please let a moment pass after reading that sentence.

If this seems like an odd way to communicate: it is. I am afraid it's your recent actions to ban the appearance of _____ and other symbols of the ___________ that provoked this peculiar method of writing. You see, I identify myself as a "_____." Lately, that term - the term that used to just denote "someone who plays _____" - has been getting a bad rap. In some ways that's justified. But rest assured, Mr. Cook, that I mean it in its classic sense. I am someone who plays _____. I even aspire to become someone who designs them. That's neither here nor there, except to note that I, and the millions of people like me, are the people you're hurting when you wantonly ban depictions of the ___________ ____ in games and apps in the app store regardless of context.

It's because I am a _____ that I fear this article would stop abruptly while it makes its rounds around your offices. It is, after all, specifically ______ and developers of _____ that such a ban targets. As any astute observer can see, books (like Mein Kampf, a political book) and music (like this soundtrack from pro-KKK 'documentary' The Birth of a Nation) are the exception to such a blanket ban. In fact, with the exception of censored song titles, books, movies, TV shows and music have never been subject to a blanket ban in the history of iTunes.

I find your lack of respect for a specific class of your developers and users appalling. It's clear you think and treat ______ like me and all the ____ developers differently than you do other creators because we choose to create and enjoy _____ over than movies or music.

So I'll ask you to reconsider your censorship of _____. It's time Apple recognized the depiction of the ___________ ____ in a ____ in a historical context is far better than self-described racist propoganda you shill on your bookstore.

This isn't about _____. It's about your treatment of a medium.

Posted by @____holden on ____sutra with permission from the author.