By now, everyone has probably already heard about Ahmed Mohamed, the 14 year- old from Irvington, Tex. who was arrested and suspended from school after bringing in a clock he made to show a teacher. But before we talk about why this is important, let's make sure we're clear on a few facts.
1. Ahmed Mohamed was a member of the robotics club in middle school, and has won awards for his inventions before.
2. Ahmed brought the clock in to his high school to show his engineering teacher, which he did.
Afterwards, the teacher advised him to put it away and not show any other teachers.
3. During English class, Ahmed's clock beeped while in his backpack.
To silence it and address the beeping, Ahmed took the clock out of his backpack, causing his English teacher to comment "It looks like a bomb" to which Ahmed responded "It doesn't look like a bomb to me." Regardless, Ahmed's English teacher took away the clock.
4. Later in the day, the principal, accompanied by police officers, met with Ahmed where he was handcuffed and taken to a juvenile detention center.
5. When Ahmed entered the room, a police officer said "Yup, that's who I thought it was."
6. Ahmed was interrogated for hours about making a "hoax bomb" despite repeatedly saying, "It's a clock."
7. The investigation into Ahmed by the Irvington Police Department has since been closed, with no charges being filed.
The incident regarding Ahmed Mohamed captured national attention, with responses coming from ex-Secretary of State Clinton, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, and even President Obama. Now, I'm not going to address the responses from critics like Bristol Palin and C.J. Pearson, because that would take a whole separate article, and something tells me that they're going to believe whatever they want to believe. However, it is important that we discuss what this incident means for both our country as a whole, and the minority communities that live within it.
It's hard not to say that Ahmed Mohammed was treated unfairly because of his religion. He followed his teacher's orders, but had to take the clock out of his backpack to stop it from interrupting class. He never once said or implied that it was a bomb, which negates the "hoax bomb" effect many are claiming. Administrators and law enforcement officials made an assumption instead of asking the opinion of his engineering teacher who had seen the device earlier. And it's hard to believe that it took law enforcement officials hours to understand what Ahmed meant when he said he made a clock.
But what's probably most important in all of this is the picture above: Ahmed Mohamed, wearing a NASA shirt, is being handcuffed as he stares in disbelief. This photo captures the exact moment that he fully came to the realization that all minority people must eventually come to: we have to be careful about how we act, because people will always make assumptions about us. This photo represents a loss of innocence, when Ahmed fully understood what it means to be a Muslim who likes engineering -- in Texas; if he wants to pursue his interests and ambitions, it's going to be an uphill battle.
And this is why it's so important that people like Mark Zuckerberg, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama show their support for Ahmed. Because during times like this, it can be hard for minority people to truly feel like we are an accepted part of society. Just take a closer look at Irvington, where Mayor Beth Van Duyne earlier this year threw her support behind a bill that would disable the operation of an Islamic Tribunal in Dallas that would handle workplace disputes and small business claims within the Muslim community on a voluntary basis (similar to the legal Beth Din of the Jewish faith).
Ultimately, the arrest of Ahmed Mohamed highlights a growing problem within this country. It seems that much of the nation is split into two factions: the people who are trying to fix the social, economic, and political injustices that plague society, and those who would rather stick their fingers in their ears and scream "la, la, la" instead. And by the nature of the conflict, as one grows larger, so will the other. In a picture perfect world, it would be easy to believe that Ahmed Mohamed's arrest is not indicative of a larger conflict. But sadly, this issue is not simply about what is, and isn't, a clock.
