Ahmed Mohamed a 14 year old, brought a clock that he made to school, and was arrested. Why was he arrested? Because the teacher thought his clock looked like a bomb. Why did the teacher think it was a bomb? Because it resembled one? No, because Ahmed Mohamed is an American Muslim. American Muslim or of the Islamic faith seems to be an unimaginable combination and thus perpetuated in media as negative causing people such as Ahmed's teacher to be afraid when he shows off his science and engineering skills.
Glenn Beck, Bill Maher, Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller, Sam Harris, Maajid Nawaz, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali are all individuals in the media who have painted an image of what it means to be in the Islamic faith creating a negative image of a whole race and religion (Mogul, "America's Islamophobia problem (Opinion) - CNN.com"). All these individuals are mouth pieces in the media and their stories can affect the political climate. Granted Islamphobia skyrocketed due to 9/11, but the media cannot continue to judge an entire race/religion. Ahmed’s story drew attention from the White House, NASA, and Mark Zuckerberg which hopefully start to change how we view Muslims and practicing Islamic and the rhetoric that the media forms toward them. #StandwithAhmed
Mogul, H. (2015, September 16).
America's Islamophobia problem (Opinion) - CNN.com. Retrieved September 27,
2015, from http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/16/opinions/moghul-islamophobia-america/
I do definitely agree that we as Americans cannot blame one race of people. However, this is an issue that has been going on for years now and is one that will not change over night. It is unfortunate that this boy was arrested even though he did not have a bomb, but in today's day and age people feel like they have to take action because of other events that have occurred. Unfortunately, Ahmed lives in a society that is too concerned with their well-being to care about what actually takes place.
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