If You See Something and Say Something, You're a Racist

When 14-year-old Texas teen Ahmed Mohamed took his hastily assembled homemade clock to school to surprise his engineering teacher, the surprise was on him. When Mohamed presented the clock to his teacher, he nervously complimented Mohamed on his work, but he also gave him a warning, "I would advise you not to show any other teachers."  I suspect he told him that because he knew two things for sure; the Irving Independent School District has repeatedly asked both staff and students to "immediately report if they observe any suspicious items or if they observe any suspicious behavior."  He also knew that a case containing a circuit board with numerous wires and a power supply connected to a digital display looked more like a bomb than a clock.

Later, Mohamed went to his English class, taking his homemade clock with him. During class, the device beeped (presumably several times), reportedly annoying the teacher.  After class he brought the clock up to her and she told him that it looks like a bomb.  Disagreeing with her assessment of his handiwork, Mohamed responded, "It doesn't look like a bomb to me." The English teacher kept the clock.  During his sixth period, Mohamed was pulled out of class by the principal.  By the day's end, Mohamed would be interrogated by police, handcuffed, fingerprinted and expelled from school for three days. He was not charged with anything and the case is now closed.

But it hasn't been all bad news for Mohamed.  Upon hearing the news, President Obama took to twitter to proclaim his support for the boy.  While he didn't say 'If I had a son he'd look like Ahmed,' he did invite him to bring his clock to the White House.  Facebook CEO Mark Zukerberg invited him to the company's headquarters.  NASA scientists and MIT reasearchers gave him t-shirts and offered tours. The hashtag #IStandWithAhmed has taken off  like wildfire, with supporters, including several celebrities retweeting their support for the boy and many people accusing the school and the district of being racist. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is investigating the incident and believes that it would not have happened if his name weren't Ahmed Mohamed.  And a lawyer with the Constitutional Center for Muslims in American, representing the family, insists the boy should be celebrated.

As far as I'm concerned, the device looks like a bomb. The school's response was appropriate and the police responded exactly as they should have. What I find most disturbing about this entire situation is that so many people are acting as if the idea that a Muslim teen might want to carry out an act of terroism is utterly ridiculous, especially in light of the numerous reports, including a warning from the FBI that ISIS and other terrorists organizations are specifically targeting American teens for radicalization. In just one year, several teens, sympathetic to ISIS have been arrested for attempting to carry out acts of terrorism that could have resulted in the deaths of many thousands had not their efforts been thwarted. And remember, it was only four months ago when two homegrown terrrorists, both ISIS supporters, attempted to kill as many people as they could at a controversial art contest in...TEXAS!  

Yes, by all accounts, Ahmed Mohamed is an ordinary American kid, who happens to love science and building electronic devices. But this is so much bigger than the young Mr. Mohamed.  The reaction by the president and those who are vilifying the school, are setting a dangerous precedent. As Americans facing the clear and present danger of terrorism, we've been asked for years to be more vigilant in observing our surroundings.  We've been told that if we see something, say something...even if it turns out to be nothing.  By attacking the school for doing what they were supposed to do, we run the risk of not only cowering those who may perceive a threat from reporting it, but this kind of knee-jerk reaction also sends a signal to those who want to harm Americans--that the nation has become so politically correct, that if you're a Muslim, no one will feel comfortable reporting your suspicious activity.