#IStandWithAhmed – The Time to End Anti-Black, Anti-Muslim, Anti-Humanity Hysteria is Now

By Zainab Chaudry

It’s not easy being a genius in America. Especially if you’re a young, black male who also happens to be Muslim.

Just ask fourteen-year-old Ahmed Mohamed. The story about the egregious treatment of the bright, high school freshman who assembles radios and understands circuit boards and power supplies better than most adults has gone viral.

In case you somehow missed it, Ahmed assembled a homemade digital clock. He was excited to show off his talents to his new engineering teacher.  So he packed it up and took it to school.

What happened next stunned him, shocked his family, took social media by storm, garnered international media attention and gained him legions of supporters who’ve rejected intolerance and expressed their solidarity with him.

Wearing a gray t-shirt emblazoned with NASA’s logo, the bespectacled freshman, whose family hails from Sudan, proudly presented his invention to his teacher.

He did not anticipate that his invention would lead him to be suspended from school, interrogated without a parent or attorney present, arrested and subsequently transported to a juvenile detention center to be fingerprinted and photographed.

Yet, that’s exactly what happened.

As we grapple with school administrators’ and law enforcement officers’ outrageous, abominable response, Muslims find ourselves asking this question: Would Ahmed have been subjected to this traumatizing experience had he not been a black Muslim teen with the last name Mohamed?

The answer is a resounding no.

We know many other students have also built clocks and even inert bombs and taken them to school. They were not criminalized, suspended, humiliated, degraded and traumatized.

They were also not black Muslim students with a Muslim-sounding name. There’s little doubt that discriminatory racial and religious profiling both played a big role in how Ahmed was treated.

Ahmed revealed in interviews that his interrogation and subsequent arrest made him feel “like he wasn’t human.” He said he felt like he was “a criminal.”

The dehumanization of black and Muslim youth manifests in different ways, but the conversation surrounding its detrimental effects would not be complete without addressing the distinct dichotomy that exists in the learning experiences of school-aged children in America.

Privileged children – who often are not black or Muslim – are taught to shoot for the stars. Their potential is nurtured. They are encouraged to pursue their dreams. They are instructed that there is no limit to what they can achieve.

They have access to critical tools and resources that foster growth. They receive praise and rewards for their accomplishments.

Black and Muslim children too often fall into the category of students who don’t enjoy the same privilege. They are often taught to remain firmly rooted in reality, grounded right here on Earth. They are may be instructed to operate within constrictive boundaries that stunt intellectual growth and lead them to achieve only a fraction of their potential.

They learn early on that they must work twice as hard to be considered half as good, and that even if they manage to somehow venture beyond their boundaries, they will still never be quite good enough.

They are trained to “know their place” and are conditioned to accept the status quo, even if it is unsatisfactory and means quelling their appetite for knowledge.  They receive praise sparingly. Punishment is some cases is unwarranted, swift and too harsh.

This dichotomy, coupled with institutional racism endemic in many U.S. school systems, is the perfect storm for producing an educational experience for black and Muslim students that is designed to “dumb down” and rob them of their potential.

The silver lining in Ahmed’s case has been the public’s heartwarming response. As his story gained traction, the teen has been inundated with encouragement and support from strangers around the country.

#IStandWithAhmed trended on Twitter for hours and crowd funding campaigns have been launched to raise money to support Ahmed’s education and interests and to provide scholarships to STEM youth.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and even POTUS himself have joined the growing chorus of those unequivocally voicing their support for the young teen.

He has been invited to the White House for Astronomy Night next month and has been also invited to visit Google, NASA, Facebook, Harvard and even MIT, where he dreams of taking classes one day.

His appalling story has thankfully taken a turn for the better. But Ahmed could have been any number of teens around the country who frequently experience race or faith-based bullying, suspicion, discrimination, taunting and harassment from peers and educators.

Reports of such incidents are on the rise especially among American Muslims. One report released by the California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations  (CAIR) revealed that almost half of that state’s Muslim students surveyed reported being subjected to some form of bias-based bullying.

CAIR has responded to numerous cases at the start of this school year alone where school administrators, teachers or board of education members have made or applauded derogatory and insulting racial and religious slurs. It is impossible to accurately measure the physical, mental and emotional toll that an intolerant learning environment can take on students who are often impressionable and influenced by peers and teachers. But we know that it impacts practically all aspects of their lives.

Equally concerning is the rising levels of anxiety and trepidation especially among Muslim parents who worry that their child’s name, race, gender, or even STEM major will invite unwarranted scrutiny and harassment.

The mayor of Irving, who has a history of supporting anti-Muslim views, has defended police officers and school administrators, saying they were following protocol and only doing their job to keep everyone safe.

But this is not the first instance in which Muslims in her jurisdiction have been marginalized or singled out. In 2014-15, the Texas state legislature considered nine anti-Islam bills. Two of these bills directly drew language from a template anti-Islam bill seen across the nation.

Anti-Muslim hysteria manifests in the form of discriminatory legislation, bullying, racial and religious profiling, political posturing and unwarranted surveillance – all of which do not make our country safe. Just look at how presidential hopeful Donald Trump responded when a supporter at a town-hall meeting asked him how they could rid the country of Muslims.

It just reinforces fears, perpetuates alienation, fosters resentment and makes our country more hostile and unfriendly for those who don’t meet the narrow, selective criteria of what some believe it means to be American. It also risks alienating youth in our communities by inspiring mistrust, jeopardizing their well-being, damaging their self-esteem and bolstering the platforms of those who would exploit them for personal gain.

It takes a village to raise a child. We are all part of one global village, and we all have a responsibility to protect, nurture and empower each child.

Regardless of race or religion, youth like Ahmed represent the future of our country and of our planet. How we prepare them and future generations to lead will determine the fate of both. The status quo that allows the tolerance of intolerance must change. Fear or prejudice can never justify the sort of intimidation tactics, discrimination and trauma endured by Ahmed or any of his peers.

These transgressions are happening on our watch, and we must work collectively to end them. Judging by the recent outpouring of love and support for Ahmed, the time to end them is now.