The Clock BoyIn the past two days, we have become very familiar with this title, given to Ahmed Mohamed. An overnight internet and news phenomenon, the innocent 14 year old boy was a victim of Islamaphobia and accused of bringing a bomb to school. It's not fair, to put it in simple terms. It's a complete lack of common sense on part of everyone involved. Some obvious examples being:
Some DisclaimersI believe what happened to Ahmed Mohamed was wrong and unfair. I hope that this gets blown way out of proportion and finally puts Islamaphobia on the map of social injustices. And that is all. I have no animosity towards Ahmed. He is, in fact, an innocent 14 year old caught up in something much bigger than himself. My critique that follows is directed towards those of us outraged over this criminal act. Those of us who, I feel, are misplacing their frustration and their anger and their voice. Let's Freak Out
Let's just ignore our heritage, ethnicity, and religion here for one second and ask ourselves, honestly, whether this looks like a bomb to us or not. No right or wrong answer here, just really look and wonder: Had you not known that that was a clock, what would you think? I KNOW, I KNOW, Ahmed well informed everyone that it was indeed a clock. And as I said earlier, the reactions of those who responded negatively were uncalled for and unjust. If there wasn't any sufficient evidence to say this was in fact a bomb, it should have not been any bigger of an issue. But what if it had? Does better safe than sorry still apply? To me, this looks like a bomb. But maybe not to you. Define DiscriminationAccording to dictionary.com, discrimination is "treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit". Let's put this in to context shall we? Obama reached out in support. Which is epic to say the least. But who else reached out to Ahmed? well of course the Young Inventors of North America (not an actual group so don't quote me). PSYCH, it was actually someone really relevant to clocks and racism. MARK ZUCKERBURG. Okay. Pause. - Facebook + ... = Ahmed Mohamed? Well anyway, Mark invited Ahmed to the HQ of Facebook because...well he built a clock. Please, someone, please come and tell me that this is not discrimination. Note, the definition doesn't strictly have a negative connotation to it. How is someone using a situation like this to up their PR points and score with a minority group not discrimination? Again, I would be ecstatic had that been an invitation to me. But the sad truth is, if no one thought the clock was a bomb or maybe had Ahmed not been Muslim, he wouldn't be getting invited to the Facebook headquarters. This is all pure speculation on my part, but have we considered all sides of the story that we are adamantly raging about? This Issue at HandClick this and open this. i really want you to read these and understand them for yourself but let me summarize.
and there are so many more stories. stories untold, ignored, or overlooked because the factors didn't line up to make it a Clock Boy story. so we moved past it, and didn't think twice about what #hashtag it deserved. yet a story of a middle class, well educated 14 year old boy blows up over night. because "how could it happen to us?" well it can. if you blind yourself to the world you live in, the society you are surrounded in, you become just as ignorant as those accusing you. if you build something, and your teacher tells you "hey don't go showing that around" as Ahmed's engineering teacher roughly said, than you are ignorant of where you stand. we can not and never will be able to control the assumptions people make in their heads. but can we control ourselves? there is a line we walk, and we have to assume responsibility when we cross it. it's not fair that i don't get to pick my luggage up immediately after i come back from Pakistan, and that i have to endure an interrogation because my last name is Ali and i am Muslim. but if i cause a scene, throw my hands in the air and yell, around people who may or may not suspect me already, is it justifiable? yes, no doubt. am i somewhat responsible for the repercussions? most definitely. and that's what we don't understand. it's easy to play the victim. but there are victims out there who are just trying to survive. Muslims suffering from hate of Islamaphobes. and this is the story that hits the headlines. the story everyone in the world unites for. i do hope this gets blown out of proportion. because some story out there has to make an international impact. it just saddens me that we yell, kick and scream for the stories that have a happy ending. and there are hundreds of voices muffled by our own arrogance, whose stories end with no one to read it. i want us to be honest with each other. do we only read the headline news to find our source of outrage? to voice what has already been voiced? or do we try to shed light on those suffering backstage, away from the limelight. giving our voices to those who need it. i know i don't. not yet anyway. but the clock boy story? it's whipped cream on a pile of dog shit. no one likes dog shit, so we all walk around it. but everyone screams for that whipped cream.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AUTHORA financial analyst by day...dreaming of being a college student again ARCHIVES
December 2017
Categories |