Justice for Ahmed Mohamed

      I am sure many of you have at least heard of the recent arrest of 14-year old student, Ahmed Mohamed. It has alarmed millions of Americans and many have spoken up about the injustice done to this innocent kid If you have not heard about this, here is a brief synopsis of what happened.
      In Irving, Texas, Ahmed Mohamed had decided that for his freshman engineering class he would create a homemade clock to show to his teacher. Instead of being delighted when presented the clock, the teacher immediately felt threatened by Ahmed's project. She proceeded to call the cops who then arrested Ahmed, placing him in handcuffs while at school telling him that he had committed a crime by creating a fake bomb to school. When questioned about the clock, he simply would say that he made a clock and would not elaborate on the subject.
      When you think about Ahmed's immediate reaction it can seem suspicious. However, we have to remember the amount of fear he felt when he was suddenly arrested for a school project. For a 14-year old, this is frightening in and of itself. But then this brings about the issue of why the teacher was so quick to assume that this simple, student-made clock was a bomb.
       Ever since the event of 9/11, the American population is continuously reminded of the tragedy we faced years ago. As a result, our government has remained persistent in persecuting and blaming the minorities of the American society. Some argue that it is right to do so because it is for the protection of our citizens, but it comes at a cost of constant hysteria amongst millions of people.
      Ahmed Mohamed's story is only a slight example of this type of frenzy that has arose from the incident of 9/11, but it is nonetheless a controversial story. So controversial, in fact, that it caught the attention of millions of Americans. He was asked to make an appearance on Dallas Morning News, MSNBC's All In With Chris Hayes and has received support from many online. A popular hashtag #IStandWithAhmed was trending throughout the internet and posts from Barack Obama and Mark Zuckerberg contributed to this (seen below).

      On one of Ahmed's interviews, he spoke with a current MIT professor and astrophysicist, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, who asked him to visit the school and that he was the type of student they were looking for. Instead of shaming him for committing a crime he did not commit, these people and businesses encouraged his creativity and intelligence.

       I think that this type of support is immensely important when one thinks of how this event has affected our population 14 years later. We still see minorities as a threat and will most likely continue to believe this in the future. The big question is where do we draw the line? How do we stop things like this from happening while still being able to protect our country? It's a continuous effort to do right by our citizens and we won't always get it right, but it's worth a shot.