Ken Berwitz
When I hear a Muslim name, I make no assumptions at all about the person who has that name.
Is it because I am naive? I mean, we all know that the preponderance of terrorism is perpetrated by Muslims, don\’t we?
Actually it is not at all that I am naive. It is that I am someone who has spent enough time with enough Muslims who are terrific people, to know better than making such assumptions.
Which leads me to this unpleasant story out of Irving, Texas, which I have excerpted from Avi Selk\’s article at dallasnews.com:
Ahmed Mohamed – who makes his own radios and repairs his own go-kart – hoped to impress histeachers when he brought a homemade clock to MacArthur High on Monday.
Instead, the schoolphoned police about Ahmed\’s circuit-stuffed pencil case.
So the 14-year-oldmissed the student council meeting and took a trip in handcuffs to juveniledetention. His clock now sits in an evidence room. Police say they may yetcharge him with making a hoax bomb – though they acknowledge he told everyonewho would listen that it\’s a clock.
In the meantime,Ahmed\’s been suspended, his father is upset and the Council on American-IslamicRelations is once again eyeing claims of Islamophobia in Irving.
Is it unreasonable to worry about a terrorist attack in a school? Nope, not at all. They happen.
Is it unreasonable to have a 14 year old child in handcuffs because he is involved in gadgetry and put together his own clock…probably because his name is Ahmed Mohamed instead of, say, Mark Smith?
You bet it is. Unreasonable and unfair…but – and I say this with profound sadness – also at least somewhat understandable.
It is a reality of life that people often are singled out as – to coin a phrase – a “consequence of probability”.
Let me explain.
Suppose a Black teenager goes into a convenience store with his friend to get a cold drink. There is a high likelihood he will be scrutinized by the owner – no matter what the owner\’s race – from the time he opens the door of that store to the time he leaves. Why? Because young Black males are dramatically more likely to commit crimes, including theft and assorted violent crimes, than the general population. This particular young man may have nothing to do with any of that, but the store owner doesn\’t know his frame of mind and is understandably concerned….so he is being subjected to a consequence of probability.
Similarly, if a Muslim teenager brings a device into school that has a clock on it, so it looks like it might be a bomb with a timer, the fact that most terrorist acts are committed by Muslims makes it neither reasonable nor fair that he winds up being hauled away in handcuffs. As with the Black teenager, he is being victimized by a consequence of probability.
I acknowledge that there is a difference: in the second example, we\’re not talking about the risk that a can of Coke might be stolen. We\’re talking about life and death. If school officials feel students and teachers are potentially in mortal danger, it is understandable that they might put all other concerns on the back burner.
Which makes it no less unreasonable and no less unfair to young Ahmed Mohamed.
What is the answer? Sorry, you\’re asking the wrong guy. I\’m not clever enough to solve this one. All I can do is hope that people use their heads, and remember that there is good and bad among all people.
Maybe that will go at least some distance toward dealing with situations like these. I hope so, anyway.
