MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- While expressing his love for his home state of Alabama, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook criticized the state for being slow to grant equality to minorities and the poor.

Having grown up in a loving family in Robertsdale, he said he doesn't understand why so many in Alabama and the rest of the nation are slow to grant equal rights to everyone, including the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender community.

"As a state, we took too long to steps toward equality," he said. "We were too slow on equality for African-Americans. We were too slow on interracial marriage, and we are still too slow for the equality for the LGBT community."

Cook, a graduate of Auburn University, spoke on behalf of the Class of 2014 inductees into the Alabama Academy of Honor at the State Capitol Monday morning, focusing his remarks on the state of Alabama 50 years after the signing of the Civil Rights Act.

The battle for civil rights and the work of Martin Luther King Jr. impacted him growing up in Alabama, Cook said, and it helped make him into what he is today.

"All of us share the responsibility of making us equal," he said, adding that we must all work together.

In the state of Alabama, a person can still be fired based on their sexual orientation, Cook remarked.

Additionally, Cook said there is still a lack of equal access to education in the state.

A product of Alabama public schools, Cook said he received a great education that allowed him to dream big, and that combining big dreams with hard work anything is possible.

"Today too many kids are denied access to access to equal education," he said, largely because they are located in poor communities. Minorities are especially at a disadvantage.

Apple is stepping up to help unlock the "vast potential" of students by giving $100 million to 114 schools in 29 states. Five of those schools are in poor, rural Alabama.

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