Istandwithahmed

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#istandwithahmed

In 2016, a boy by the name of Ahmed Mohamed entered school with a homemade alarm clock. This homemade creation was mistaken for a bomb. Bringing his project to school led him to be arrested by the police. People all over the country took to social media to voice their opinions, anger, and support. The hashtag #istandwithahmed was created for those to show support of Ahmed and encourage his dream to pursue robotics despite the newfound fear for what might result from his creations. Social media not only allowed Ahmed’s story and voice to be heard, but also revealed that the world wants to come together to call out injustice. On the day Ahmed was escorted, he was wearing a NASA shirt, reinforcing he is a student with a strong interest in science and robotics. The photo of Ahmed, paired with an article by Business Insider, has become iconic with this movement.

#istandwithahmed is the story of a boy with a love for robotics and science whose dream was met with backlash by a system that was supposed to be supporting him. Twitter and Instagram were, and still are, quick to point out these injustices to improve someone’s life for the better. #istandwithahmed spread on Twitter and Instagram, with most tweets and posts falling under the following categories: government opinion, religion and race, personal anecdotes, and humor. All of the posts under #istandwithahmed showed support for Ahmed and his future. 

WORDS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE

 Even former president Barack Obama Tweeted in support of Ahmed: “Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great.” Obama’s message was a considerate offer to Ahmed in an attempt to make up for the accusations placed by Ahmed’s teachers and the police. The tweet reached hundreds of thousands of people, receiving over 336 thousand retweets and over 380 thousand likes. As seen here, the activism of well-known individuals is able to push messages to more people than the average person is capable of reaching.

RELIGION AND RACE

Within all the criticism for the school, Muslim Instagram users were quick to point out how Ahmed’s ethnicity and religion may have impacted how he was treated. To support him, they send their prayers and explain the daily struggles people in the Musilm community face. Posts like these demonstrate the support of the Musilm community standing with Ahmed.

One image on Instagram showed the result of fear when combined with ignorance. The post compared the situation to a chemical reaction; when fear is applied to ignorance, the result is hate. In this case, the teacher’s ignorant assumption that Ahmed’s clock was a bomb brought immediate fear.. These kinds of negative feelings towards individuals who think or look differently than ourselves, combined with a refusal to accept a belief different than their own, is a major catalyst for the problem of systemic racism and religious oppression in the United States.

ANECDOTES

Other posts share personal feelings that came out of reading about Ahmed. On Instagram, user razziahkhan shared strong feelings for how Ahmed was treated and that Ahmed was only an excited kid ready to share his invention. There is a shared feeling that people expressed when talking about a boy whose dreams were halted. The creator of this post imagined how they would feel or react to being targeted for being Muslim and how much more difficult life would be. They chose to stand with Ahmed against ignorant stereotyping.

Beyond Instagram and Twitter, organizations like the National Center for Science Education showed their support with an article dedicated to Ahmed and a personal anecdote that can be found here. This letter on the NCSE describes the personal experiences of an individual’s experience being targeted for the way they looked. Their experience with the police did not end the way Ahmed’s did, yet it still shows ways people have experienced stereotyping based on their appearance.

HUMOR

The third, more widespread, universal way of coping with a situation such as the one that happened to Ahmed is through the use of humor. Online users, through many platforms, shared their thoughts and support through images that were meant to show the ridiculousness of what happened to Ahmed. Some people took pictures of themselves holding clocks “in various shapes and sizes”, using the clocks as symbols of their acceptance for people of all people. The clock banter was unending, filling the hashtag with pictures of various clocks, including even ovens.

CONCLUSION

Thanks to Twitter and Instagram, Ahmed received widespread recognition for the injustice he faced. His fame can be largely attributed to the #istandwithahmed hashtag. Although he has become a public figure on Twitter because of the incident, he will not allow himself to be defined by it. In fact, today he is a successful engineer who advocates for the rights of the African American community. While the social media movement was unable to fix or prevent what happened to Ahmed, it did show that the world is willing to call out injustice in order to fight against racial stigma.




Works Cited

Adams, Mike [puisheen]. “Umm, holy shit you…”* Instagram, 16 September 2015, https://www.instagram.com/p/7s_0ImnUa3/?utm_medium=copy_link

Barrett, Kay [brownroundboi]. “Two black men wearing bright colors...”* Instagram, 16 Sept 2015, https://www.instagram.com/p/7tvRq4S65J/?utm_medium=copy_link

Centenary [centenryla]. “We bring clocks to school too, in…”*Instagram, 16 Sept 2015, https://www.instagram.com/p/7tE0dZh2rp/?utm_medium=copy_link

Ebrahimi, Amir [farshad]. “Ahmad We’re proud of you and our prayer behind you !”* Instagram, 17 Sept 2015, https://www.instagram.com/p/7u1H7REI1d/?utm_medium=copy_link

Khan, Razziah [razziahkhan]. “kesian...Islam.”* Instagram, 16 Sept 2015, https://www.instagram.com/p/7tvL6KLJrh/?utm_medium=copy_link

Kircher, Madison Malone. “Thousands Declare Solidarity with the Teen Who Was Arrested for Bringing a Homemade Clock to School.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 16 Sept. 2015, www.businessinsider.com/i-stand-with-ahmed-hashtag-on-twitter-2015-9. 

Obama, Barack [@POTUS44]. “Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great.” Twitter, 16 Sept 2015, https://twitter.com/POTUS44/status/644193755814342656?s=20

Rosenau, Josh. “I Stand with AHMED Mohamed: National Center for Science Education.” I Stand with Ahmed Mohamed | National Center for Science Education, 23 Sept. 2015, https://ncse.ngo/i-stand-ahmed-mohamed. 

Troudi, Samir [samirtrodi]. “Predjudice explained”* Instagram, 16 Sept 2015, https://www.instagram.com/p/7tI_Rznpyh/?utm_medium=copy_link 



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