
I’m Ahmed. Except I’m Not Brown - kccqzy
http://ihnatko.com/2015/09/16/im-achmed-except-im-not-brown/
======
ambiate
In my very similar case, I was suspended and subsequently offered to be sued
or to quit school by the school board in my Mississippi hometown (100-200k
pop). It was in 11th grade in 2002-2003. My mother was not even involved. I
quit, because we were a poor family raking in $600/mo. Sue was an unfathomable
word. Things worked out for me, but that's dumb luck.

My criminal case? I ran the ping -t from a windows cmd prompt to see if an IRC
server (I administrated) had rebooted. Screenshot evidence of my hardship on
their servers and the 'attack' on my own server could not be argued.

My earlier suspension (1064 pop town in MS) was for bringing a flute made from
cane to school. It was a project item for art where we had to make a musical
instrument. The cane was considered a physical assault device. I was
suspended, had to walk home, and faced 3 months of Saturday school. My art
teacher was the one who claimed it was a weapon.

My wife was driven home by the school principal (alone at 14) in the first
town because she 'appeared drugged', and no parents were there and she was
left on the porch. She was given a Benadryl for allergies. She was suspended
afterwards.

~~~
jbattle
nauseating. how long did it take you to trust "grownups" again (if ever)?

~~~
ambiate
I do not really have this association due to the events that took place with
the ping scenario. I just assumed they felt they were doing the right thing
and negating any side effects from something that was misunderstood.

The flute situation on the other hand seems like an almost personal attack,
but that's just petty nonsense that quickly fades with time.

My wife's scenario (and various others) still has an impact to this day.

------
abalos
One thing that people haven't been pointing out enough is that the
administrators didn't make the mistake when they questioned Ahmed about this
device. If there's even the smallest chance that it could cause harm, they
need to investigate. What they did wrong is everything after they learned that
it wasn't harmful or anything resembling a weapon. They should have apologized
and then sent him on his merry way. Instead, they're doubling down on this "no
tolerance" BS and taking it out on a kid who has done nothing to deserve it.
It's ridiculous. /endrant

~~~
threatofrain
School administrators should investigate whenever there's the slightest bit of
harm? That would be an awful allocation of resources, only made wise because
of fear of lawsuit. It would also be a theatrical exercise in neuroticism.

Sounds like schools should appropriate part of their budget for threat
consultation.

~~~
something123
I think you're not appreciating that most people don't know anything about
electronics. So a bunch of wires and LEDs does in fact look very scary from
their perspective, and you know.. better be safe than sorry.

Would it have been better if the school staff were all familiar with
electronics projects? Sure.. but that's not the reality we live in

~~~
cholantesh
Well, then, why not consult a subject matter expert? They didn't ask his
teacher or any of his potentially qualified colleagues; the police didn't
consult anyone on their staff who might have been as knowledgeable. They
didn't even try their bomb squad. There's no suggestion that even a semblance
of a credible investigation took place.

------
wheaties
I'm glad he said this is a problem with America and not just Texas. Zero
tolerance is hurting kids with bringing scissors to school or handing Advil
out for headaches. It's probably one of the most distructive policies we could
ever have.

~~~
userbinator
"zero tolerance" is more like "zero thinking".

~~~
redblacktree
What they're hoping for is "zero liability"

------
jperras
If the school administration was so certain it was a bomb, why was the
building not evacuated immediately?

For the threat they're making it out to be, they sure didn't act as if they
believed it themselves.

~~~
jimktrains2
That's what I've always loved about the "random" screenings at security lines
in the airport. "We need you to turn on your laptop." and "Give us your bag so
that we can swab it" are inane. If you think it's a bomb, everyone should be
removed and no one should be allowed to touch it, at all. It's all just
theater and no one gives a damn. It's sad.

~~~
KayEss
That isn't really what that test is about. They don't think there's a 99% or
even 80% chance that it's a bomb. They think there might be a 0.0001% chance
that it's a bomb so they're going to test (along with hundreds, thousands and
eventually millions of others that nobody thinks might be bomb) just to put
off anybody thinking that this is an effective way to smuggle a bomb onto a
plane.

~~~
jimktrains2
My point is if it's a bomb, you shouldn't touch it, at all. If you don't think
it's a bomb, you're being annoying. Which is it?

Moreover, why even target a plane? A bomb in a security checkpoint is just as,
if not more, scary and deadly.

~~~
dwild
Let say you are a terrorist, would you try to bring a bomb through security
like that? Situation A: They mostly never check bags because they need to
close the airport for it. Situation B: They mostly check bags.

Just increasing the odds of being checked is a deterrent.

> A bomb in a security checkpoint is just as, if not more, scary and deadly.

Is it really? I'm not that good in physic but a plane that explode, or that's
hijacked does at least 100 deaths, and has the potential to do even more.
Could you do that at a security checkpoint?

~~~
jimktrains2
> Let say you are a terrorist, would you try to bring a bomb through security
> like that? Situation A: They mostly never check bags because they need to
> close the airport for it. Situation B: They mostly check bags.

B doesn't exist though. The TSA has an abysmal record of passing tests. They
mostly don't check bags, and if they did check one with a bomb, the attacker
could make it go kaboom. You don't think that would make the public fearful?
"Bomb at Security Checkpoint" as a headline would be terrifying to most
people.

> Is it really? I'm not that good in physic but a plane that explode, or
> that's hijacked does at least 100 deaths, and has the potential to do even
> more. Could you do that at a security checkpoint?

Have you ever been to a security checkpoint? At a larger airport there is
easily hundreds of people in line, usually in a confined space.

~~~
dwild
> The TSA has an abysmal record of passing tests.

Probably but my point is all about fear of getting caught before succeeding.
Does the truth matter as much as the fear?

> You don't think that would make the public fearful? "Bomb at Security
> Checkpoint" as a headline would be terrifying to most people.

Well finding a bomb doesn't mean it will actually explode and as long as the
number of death is way smaller, they would have way better target than that
(one that doesn't have a ton of security guards and multiple layer to stop
you).

> Have you ever been to a security checkpoint? At a larger airport there is
> easily hundreds of people in line, usually in a confined space.

I haven't no but by what I see they aren't in confined space, the walls are
far away, and they are one in front of the other, acting like human shield.

~~~
chrismcb
From a statics point of view, there are no terrorists. But let's assume there
are, only a dumb one would be afraid of being caught in line. But let us
suppose you are right, TSA deters the boogeyman. So instead he will just
attack something else. But were are all these attacks? Why do we assume only
planes will be attacked?

~~~
dwild
> only a dumb one would be afraid of being caught in line

Really? You begin to say they are statically insignificant and then follow by
saying they wouldn't care with failed operations. That doesn't seems like an
intelligent solution when you doesn't have much opportunities. I'm pretty sure
by giving your life you would hope to kill more than a few dozen people...
which you can do pretty much anywhere.

Sadly, any potential solutions will always seems like they aren't effective
because of the likelihood of an attack.

> Why do we assume only planes will be attacked?

Who assume that? I don't...

All we can do is minimize the ratio effort:death, that include not having a
huge crowd in a confined space. I remember a documentary about train
technology to limit death in trains, I don't remember the conclusion, but the
goal wasn't to stop explosion, just to limit death. Sure any death is bad but
no solution will be perfect.

------
austenallred
It's difficult how much of this is a race issue and how much if it is a zero
tolerance issue.

At first I wanted to say, "If he were white today the same thing would have
happened," but the more I imagine a nerdy white kid with circuit board in a
case, the more I think that race played a big role.

~~~
generic_user
How does an imagining of a nerdy white kid provided you with some factual
evidence this story has anything to do with ethnicity. These stories happen
now and then. Its ridiculous yes, but don't fall for identity politics click
bait nonsense.

~~~
austenallred
I obviously have no evidence to back this up, (I'm not sure what evidence
there could possibly be outside of a long psychology study) but I could
imagine a white kid in my High School getting away with it while an Arab was
instantly questioned.

I live in a very, very conservative area, where minorities are given a lot of
crap.

------
peterwwillis
This is not just a "brown" vs "non-brown" issue.

When I was in school, I was almost arrested at my school for having phreaker
box diagrams in my backpack, which was searched illegally (do kids in public
school actually have privacy rights anyway?) by police after an unrelated
complaint. I was unfairly targeted this way many times in different schools. I
am as white as they come. This is not a brown vs non-brown issue; all schools
treat their intelligent, inquisitive students like criminals. I say this
having attended five different middle + high schools, public, magnet and
private.

~~~
ams6110
No, students in school have minimal privacy rights particulary when it comes
to searches. And that's not new.

~~~
kuschku
I am so happy to be in Germany. A teacher once asked me to give her my phone
(we were forbidden to use phones in school), so I put it in my bag and closed
it.

She instantly went to the director, who then started to discuss it with me
(after 45 minutes of him shouting at me in a hallway, which had become a
public attraction, he gave up), but at no point did anyone try to access my
bag.

The fact that my parents studied law might have something to do with it,
though, so I’m not sure if other people would have been treated the same.

------
dspeyer
From the article:

> I’m angry, and I’m a little upset with myself because I want to be useful.

I'm thinking the same thing. What I'm wishing is that I held a position of
influence at a private high school, so I could offer him immediate entrance
and a full scholarship. Mostly to correct the injustice, but also because he's
clearly a top student: unassisted home-made clock trumps perfect SSATs.

So if anybody reading this has such a position -- even a little bit -- please
try to make it happen.

~~~
throwaway1967
It seems that clock only took him 20 minutes to make, the night before.

He's made other things as well that are impressive. He makes his own radios
and fixes his go-kart. Lots of potential there.

As for me, if flushing the toilet doesn't help, I need to call someone.

------
powertower
Can anyone explain how you can immediately attribute any of this to outright
racism and his brown skin, when the staff and students are predominantly non-
white in that school.

School body is 86% non-white:

[http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-
schools/texas/dist...](http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-
schools/texas/districts/irving-independent-school-district/macarthur-high-
school-19313/student-body)

And in the entire disctrict, whites are 12%, and "browns" are 70%.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Independent_School_Dist...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Independent_School_District#Demographics)

~~~
rootedbox
Racism is the unequal distribution of privilege, and goods dependent on race.
It does not deal with race distribution in a population. However seeing racism
should even be more apparent when the race with power is in the minority
population. A good example would be South Africa in apartheid; or the south
during segregation.

But basically if this kid was white, and was named Chris(the christian
equivalent of Mohamed).. He would not have been subjugated to any of this.
That is privilege that is racism.

~~~
webXL
Racism is the individual or collective act of blindly favoring one race over
another, or hurting one race over another. There's this thing called the
dictionary. If you don't like the definitions in there, come up with a new
word and definition!

You have no evidence that this wouldn't happen to a white kid, but that's the
most likely outcome. If this were pre-9/11 (pre-Patriot Act BS), I'm not so
sure. Racism and prejudice to some extent is just part of the human condition.
Perhaps one day we'll advance enough to make it a non-issue, but we need to
stop the hysterics about "only in America" and "whites always get favored"
without some concrete evidence and historical context.

~~~
rootedbox
1\. I never said "only in America". Racism, and classism are prevalent all
over the world. My example even lists both a US and Foreign example. And
racism isn't only with whites.

2\. There is tons of evidence that whites get favored in pretty much
everything from home loans borrowing rates, being accepted to rent a house,
pay, and the number of times they get pulled over by a cop.

[http://www.jconline.com/story/news/2015/05/06/among-
favored-...](http://www.jconline.com/story/news/2015/05/06/among-favored-
renters-whites-preferred/70907340/) [http://mije.org/mmcsi/criminal-
justice/white-crime-victims-f...](http://mije.org/mmcsi/criminal-
justice/white-crime-victims-favored-mainstream-media-reports)
[http://ndsn.org/march93/favored.html](http://ndsn.org/march93/favored.html)

~~~
webXL
Fair enough. I was alluding to some other comments I had seen.

As for your evidence, I think you're going out on a limb with "whites get
favored in pretty much everything". While that may have been true up until the
1960s, we've progressed to Barack Obama and Oprah. Still a very long way to go
with regards to the specific things you mentioned (some of which may be more
socioeconomic factors rather than skin color), but your claim just doesn't
hold water.

------
linuxkerneldev
Sadly, Ahmed is being taught a lesson that all minorities in the US learn as
part of growing up. Just like African American kids are taught to be terrified
of the police and other authorities. If they behave the same as white kids or
make similar assumptions about how the power structure interacts with them,
then they're going to get murdered or punished in unfair ways.

------
JohnTHaller
Circuit board and wires? Must be a bomb. - Texas teachers and police 2015

D cell batteries and LED lights? Must be a bomb. - Boston police 2007

~~~
apricot
Speaking of which, Star Simpson tweeted yesterday:

"I hope Ahmed finds the community he seeks at MIT — & I hope MIT's
administration can support future engineers in need of legal protection."

------
gloves
I'd like to think the overwhelming majority of people share your complete
disdain and frustration at this terrible story. Racism is a problem, and we
should be discussing it out in the open, facing it head on.

------
knivets
> If I had been a black kid? No way. I can’t imagine that the teachers of a
> white, white, white suburban Boston high school would have patted me on the
> head for all of that. Opening unlocked doors would have been taken as
> breaking and entering. If I told them that I’d put in a lot of time to
> decipher the mechanical workings of a common school lock and how to exploit
> its weaknesses, they’d have assumed the only reason I’d have gone to all of
> that trouble was because I planned to steal stuff, not because I was
> intellectually excited by an intriguing puzzle.

Too polarized and emotional. There is a problem, yes. But that doesn't mean
that all teachers will treat a black or brown child differently from the white
one. And also America is not the worst case. Here in Ukraine almost everyone
hates black and brown people.

~~~
cpcat
almost everyone? another sweeping generalisation?

~~~
striking
When on vacation in Poland, I had the opportunity to meet some Ukrainian
emigrants. And they asked me in Polish, in earnest: "...so, are black people
dangerous? I hear there are a lot of them in America."

They had never met a black person in real life.

Your culture is different than theirs.

Wolfram-Alpha agrees: they will likely never have met a black person.
[http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=black+people+in+ukraine](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=black+people+in+ukraine)

~~~
david-given
Absolutely. (Although bear in mind that the term 'African-American' for
someone with brown skin is American-centric, and other countries don't use it.
Luckily WA understood you.)

On the other side of the coin, while visiting Dallas on work from Europe, I
was asked, quite seriously, whether I was worried about the the Muslim
campaign to control Europe by outbreeding the natives (or something, I'm not
good at remembering this stuff). I don't think they'd ever met a _Muslim_ in
their life.

~~~
ashwinaj
There is a large Muslim population in the Dallas area. The problem is a
combination of (self or social) segregation and poor integration of the
immigrant communities. Not knowing members of your society just because you
have preconceived notions about them is pathetic, but painfully real.

------
generic_user
There is zero evidence this story has anything to do with the child's
ethnicity except the insinuation from a Tech Crunch article to stir up clicks.
This fallow on Blog post is silly, American style race baiting and hyperbole.

The post 911 Patriot Act paranoia of the American authorities is ridiculous,
but pleas do not get sucked in by click bait demagogues. There is no bottom
the stupidity when it comes to these stories. There has been several cringe
worthy stories of this type in the past few years about people with "homemade
gadgets".

[http://tech.mit.edu/V127/N40/simpson.html](http://tech.mit.edu/V127/N40/simpson.html)

------
daktanis
Im from a very white, rural town. In 2005 I was a Junior and a kid got
suspended for bringing a 3 foot section of 2x4 to school. He was white. We
live in a zero tolerance time, Ahmed brought a bundle of electronics and a
ticking clock. It wasn't a good idea. Should it have been handled better? Yes,
of course. But we live in a shitty time where two yahoos can learn to make a
bomb online and cause mass destruction (see Boston Marathon Bombing).

~~~
afarrell
A kid can cut out the pages from a book and hide a circuitboard in a book.
Should we ban books from schools? No. A kid can put a piece of benign
electronics in a backpack and just leave it in a crowded area without telling
anyone.should we ban backpacks from schools? No.

The answer to stupid overreaction isn't to say that benign educational
activities are stupid; It is to stop overreaction.

~~~
daktanis
Im sorry, was I approving the overreaction? No. Im saying I don't think its
truly race motivated and that a High schooler should be knowledgable enough to
know how it may appear. Maybe he could have left it with his shop teacher or
gotten a note from the teacher. The teacher would have saved the kid some
trouble since the teacher obviously thought it wouldn't be great if another
teacher saw it.

Imagine if it was a bomb how the media would be damning the school for not
acting.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
Imagine? Shoes can be a bomb. Any backpack could contain a bomb. An electronic
thing with lights and a battery is no more likely to be a bomb. This whole
manufactured issue is simply Idiocracy at work.

------
csorrell
Do we really have to spin everything into a race issue these days? I never got
the sense that race had anything to do with Ahmed's story.

------
tmaly
This made me think about a book I had read where it stated Humans are very bad
at estimating risk. I think it could have been Nate Silver's book The Signal
and Noise. It might have even been the Black Swan by Nassim Taleb

~~~
ashwinaj
It is Nassim Taleb. The irony is, with his name he would've been rounded up in
the same school just like Ahmed.

------
ashwinaj
Let's not pretend that his name had nothing to do with it; it's all cute
acting PC but let's get real. I've lived in Texas and the racism/segregation
is very subtle but it's there (generally speaking).

I find it funny that as an outsider that Americans don't let their kids
walk/play alone in their neighborhood because "they are so naive and
innocent", and there are child/sexual predators out there. Yet they somehow
believe the same kid named Ahmed (guilt by association?) can somehow conjure
up a bomb.

------
Torgo
>There was never any negative fallout. Yes, partly because it was more than a
decade before 9/11.

Lede buried.

------
ianstallings
This is kind of reaching to be honest.

