Ahmed Mohamed is a 14-year-old boy from Irving, Texas, who was arrested last month at his high school. Why? For bringing in a homemade clock to show his teachers. Ahmed’s teacher was suspicious that the clock was actually a bomb and called the police. Consequently, the normal protocol for a bomb threat was not followed. The school was not evacuated, the “bomb” was not confiscated and Ahmed was put into an office with several teachers and his homemade “bomb” still in hand. It is said that when the police arrived, one of them said, “Yup. That’s who I thought it was.” So the question is, why was the normal protocol for a bomb threat not followed if this young man was considered such a “threat”? Truthfully, I have no exact answer for this question. The administrators of the school could argue several different reasons with no logical backup, but the reason I choose to believe is that the humiliation of a Muslim boy seemed like an amusing concept to these authority figures. The scandal of a Muslim boy who brought a “bomb” to school was a juicy opportunity for media coverage and attention, regardless of whether it was negative or positive. In a way, Irving County School District got what it wanted; I know for a fact that I will not forget the name of a school where a young boy was punished for creativity.

This is certainly not the first time that a Muslim-American has been discriminated against because of his or her religion or origin, and I do not believe it will be the last. A few months ago, I came across an article about a Muslim passenger on an airplane. She had asked the flight attendant for a soda, and in return was given a pre-opened can. For sanitary concerns, the woman asked if she could have a closed soda, and the flight attendant responded that it was a safety protocol. Moments later, the white man sitting near her was given a closed soda. The woman took notice of this and confronted the flight attendant, who responded that she was suspicious that the Muslim woman would use the soda cap as a weapon.

Post-9/11 paranoia of terrorism still runs rampant within the United States. The events of September 11th are something that should never have happened nor should ever be repeated, but not every Muslim person has the same beliefs of those who crashed planes into the Twin Towers. The religion of Islam is inherently gentle and kind in its origin. Muslim people are expected to adhere to five pillars of life: charity, prayer, pilgrimage, fasting, and devotion to the religion itself. Nowhere in the code of Islam is it written to “Kill all Americans.” Nowhere is it written, “We are born knowing how to construct an explosive device.”

During World War II, Germans and Japanese citizens in the United States were under suspicion for their supposed ties to the Axis Powers. All were questioned and lived in fear of being persecuted for their cultural ties. However, years later in the present, we do not discriminate, for example, against all German people saying that they are just as bad as Adolf Hitler. We do not prohibit Germans from piloting airplanes or submarines in fear that they will start dropping bombs on the United States. It has been fourteen years since September 11th of 2001, and Islamic people are still under suspicion. These American citizens are still treated like terrorists.

The United States was founded to escape tyranny and oppression. America is known throughout the world for its underlying values of freedom and liberty. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that all people have a right to free speech, freedom of religion and freedom of assembly. It is also written that all people deserve the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The Fourth Amendment puts limits on unreasonable search and seizure. In public American facilities, such as airports or trains, it is common for these rights to be violated. Since when does the Constitution only apply to certain Americans? Now, I may be only sixteen-years-old, but I am confident in my knowledge of the English language: the last time I checked, the word “all” did not equate to “some.”