Apple's social good message last focused on improving the working conditions for laborers at its factories in China. This time, Apple CEO Tim Cook has turned his focus toward equal rights in the workplace. He addressed it in a rare speech in New York this week.

Cook was accepting a lifetime-achievement award from his alma mater, Alabama's Auburn University, during a ceremony at the United Nations headquarters in New York City.

“Growing up in Alabama in the 1960s, I saw the devastating impacts of discrimination,” Cook said in the video. “Not far from where I lived, I remember very vividly witnessing a cross burning ... This image was permanently imprinted in my brain, and it would change my life forever. For me, the cross burning was a symbol of ignorance, of hatred and of fear of anyone different than the majority. For me, the cross burning was a symbol of ignorance, of hatred and of fear of anyone different than the majority.”

Watch the entire the 13-minute speech in the video, above.