Ahmed Mohamed, a 14-year-old Irving, Texas student, was arrested at MacArthur High School on September 16 for bringing a homemade clock to school. According to his English teacher, the home-assembled clock looked like a “hoax bomb.” He was then escorted by police and taken into custody. Within hours of the teen’s arrest, the news went viral and the hashtag #IStandWithAhmed was created and soaring.
Around the world, people showed their support for Ahmed by sending in encouraging words, standing up and protesting, and posting selfies with clocks. President Barack Obama even weighed in on the incident via Twitter, stating:
“Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It’s what makes America great.”
Presidential running mate, Hilary Clinton also tweeted encouraging words, stating:
“Assumptions and fear don’t keep us safe—they hold us back. Ahmed stay curious and keep building.”
The majority of people believed that the school’s administration and the police officials overreacted. Various social media users on different outlets expressed their concern about the school’s outburst, believing that the school’s administration jumped to conclusions.
“The story is upsetting. A kid gets arrested for building a clock. Shouldn’t we be applauding that and not arresting him?” says Alessia Briggs, senior applied science major. “It doesn’t matter his skin tone. Society needs to quit being so sensitive and unjust.”
While many stand with Ahmed, suggesting that he was unfairly targeted due to racial profiling, there is a large group of people who understand why the administration took the actions they did.
An image of the clock went viral a few hours after the high schooler’s arrest. The image shows what looks like the inside of a clock attached to a briefcase. The wires of a clock were simply taped onto the box.
“It looks like a bomb,” said Candace Perry, junior applied science major. “If that was left here on campus, Campus Safety and Azusa PD would be calling the bomb squad. Remember the backpack that was left unattended…just like that.”
When other APU students were asked what the image looked like, it was unified result. They believed the image displayed a bomb.
If MacArthur High School did indeed believe the clock was a bomb, why did the administration not undergo a bomb lockdown?
According to Forbes magazine, the school had no lockdown, no alert was given and no safe environment was laid out for the rest of the school. If the police, as well as school administration, assumed Ahmed’s clock was a bomb then why did they not take precautions as such?
If you read up on the Ahmed story now, you will see various conspiracy theories and a lack of facts. However, no matter what conspiracy you want to roll with you have to see this as a lesson learned. People make mistakes. They can be adults or kids and, in this case, the administration or Ahmed. An assumption was made and perhaps stretched further due to race or religion, but it was a mistake. The clock was not intended for harm, yet has done harm in the end.
Whether prejudice played a part or not, we do need to stop and see the big picture. Looking at our own fears and biases will help stop the sudden conclusions or assumptions. If we become self-aware that race and skin tone do play a part in our perceptions of the world, then incidents like these can be handled more appropriately. The denial that prejudice does not exist today gets us absolutely nowhere. What happened to Ahmed is less about the clock and more about our society.