This article is about a boy who's teacher thought his homemade clock was a bomb. Because his teacher suspected this, the boy was arrested and the story made international news. The publicity of the incident traumatized the boy both physically and emotionally, as he received threatening emails following the event. These emails were seen as a now a threat to the boys safety, ironic because of the terms of the original cause of the incident. The boy and his family are now asking for $15 million from the school to compensate for the damage the false arrest had on the boy. Ahmed was accused of his clock being a bomb because the adults involved in the incident irrationally assumed that Ahmed was dangerous because of his race and religion. This is why the issue has now gained so much attention.
It is sad to think that people still associate violence with certain races and religions. This is similar to the civil rights movements, when people degraded every action that African Americans did simply because they were black. And to them, blacks were inferior just because of their race, and therefore their race was justification for why their actions are bad. It is ridiculous to make a generalization about a race, and even worse to take legal action on someone because of a false assumption based on these terms.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34904226
The way I see it, his race isn't being attacked. I would like to think that anyone who walked into school with a suspicious item would be taken seriously as a possible threat, he just happens to match the criteria that some associate with what's going on in the middle east but not everyone is quick to jump to conclusions. I find that suing for $15 million is outrageous, I believe that he should get an apology and maybe ask for them to replace things if they were broken during the process but you can't simply sue someone for insulting you. If that's how life worked then I could sue some people from elementary and middle school for $15 million too just because they offended me and targeted me for my race. He might be able to sue for something along the lines of discrimination but it can be argued strongly from both sides. Whatever happens, I can almost guarantee you that he won't get the $15 million that he wants.
ReplyDeleteShelby Linker, 8th period
But the threatening emails to him and his family are unacceptable.
ReplyDeletethey weren't "just insulting him" they were making a statement on his race as a whole. however his lawyers are asking for a lot, but it sends a message to other areas that racist people will pay for their actions and they're held accountable
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