Racial profiling is still rife in the great United States of America despite decades of campaigns to eradicate profiling of individuals based on their skin color, their religion, and place of origin. Cases of racial profiling have been reported in airports, bus and train terminus among other places in the United States (Onwudiwe 6). Schools are not left behind in reporting the numbers of racial profiling incidences. One of the most prominent cases of school racial profiling is the story of Ahmed Mohammed, a story that caused a storm in the United States and around the globe. In its simplest form, Ahmed, 14-years old boy was accused of having a hoax bomb at MacArthur High School in Irving Texas, the only reason leading to the rash decision of arresting and questioning the boy being that he was a Muslim (Selk). The case of Ahmed Mohamed illustrates the discrimination in American schools that makes it hard for students from minor races perform in school.
Racial profiling in the United States dates back decades to when the first African-Americans were brought to the United States (Bireda and Bireda 57). The age of slavery in the United States saw various states criminalize education of slave children, with the sole aim of keeping them ignorant and hence relying on their white masters for a living. The end of the slavery and the first amendment marked the start of a long journey to fight racism in the United States. Racism still goes on today, and the vast gap in income and job level in the United States can be credited to schools viewing other students rather than the whites as not deserving to do well in studies.
The superiority of the majority white race in the United States is still active in the United States. The bullying in schools is not only perpetrated by the other students in the school but also by teachers and other staff workers. According to a family friend to Ahmed Mohammed’s family, the boy was once suspended when he reacted to bullying by one of the other students. The family friend is reported by The Dallas Morning News saying that Ahmed had complained of bullying by both students and the school staff (Selk). Subjecting students to harassment from both other students and the school staff makes it hard for the students to concentrate on their studies. Lack of concentration eventually leads to the student developing depression or mental problems and eventually dropping out of school.
Being an Arab or a Muslim in America today is harder than being from any other race or religion due to the extensive Islamophobic feelings fuelled by terrorist attacks. Ahmed is reported to be the inventive student who fixed all sorts of electronics for the other students in school, prompting the students to nickname him “Inventor kid” (Selk). However despite his brilliance in school and his inventing hunger, the tag of a Muslim hung over his head. One of the Muslim leaders who commented on the arrest of Mohammed stated that a Muslim student who invents a clock is arrested while a white student who creates a nuclear weapon will be seen as a national hero.
The minority races in the United States still trail in the job ranks in the country, a scenario that could be resultant of the bullying of students from such races. Zweigenhaft and College indicate that the number of non-white corporate executive officers (CEOs) of the Fortune 500 companies stood at less than fifteen percent despite the ever rising number of non-white Americans (Zweigenhaft and College). Despite the claims that non-white Americans are discriminated and that is why they do not land the top jobs in top companies in the country, the question of whether levels of educations for the non-white Americans seems to answer the critiques of the big companies. Regarding literacy levels, White Americans are the most literate in the country with more than eighty percent of white Americans having attained high school education. The literacy standards of the African Americans and Latinos rank low as most of the parents of Latino or African descent are indigent to afford education (Pizarro 98). Another factor that may be fueling the small numbers of minority races in the United States is the discrimination in schools by teachers, students, and staff.
The levels of education are tied to the crime rates as more educated people have better chances to get work and earn a decent living, unlike school drop-outs who have no skills or knowledge that they can utilize to earn a living. This explains the reason for increased crime rate by members of the minor races such as African Americans, Latinos, and Arabs in the country (Bireda and Bireda 76). The constant stereotyping of people from minor races as stupid and lazy or as a terrorist makes the people more prone to giving in and taking the life that trustable people such as teachers associate you with. The discrimination of minor races in the United States forms a vicious circle of crime that is only harmful to the security and economy of the country (Pizarro 113). When children are discriminated against by the people they should trust such as teachers, they are more likely to drop out of school, join criminal gangs and end up either in prison or dead instead of contributing to the positive development of the economy of the country.
Government institutions are doing little to curb discrimination against youths from minor races in the United States. In examining the case of Ahmed Mohamed, one finds it disturbing that all the authorities involved in the saga were unapologetic about the treatment of the student. School authorities and the police department who arrested a minor and questioned him in the absence of an attorney believe that there was no wrongdoing in the case. The threat of a clock assembled in a pencil box that led to the arrest and questioning of Ahmed indicates the deep stereotypes have gone into the American society, as the amplifying reason for the commotion was the religion of the boy-Islam (Onwudiwe 6). Considering that Ahmed was born and raised in the United States, the only reason the teacher who reported him became suspicious was not the possibility of Ahmed using his capabilities to build a bomb, but the stereotype of Muslims being viewed as jihadists who always make weapons to kill people.
Hypocrisy is one of the biggest challenges against the war on racism in the United States, with the reaction of the large corporations and even the white house being just but mere public relations stunt. The response of the president was to invite Ahmed to the Whitehouse while other big companies were all welcoming the boy for a visit to the companies such as Facebook and Google. This is an awkward way of dealing with discrimination as no policies are put forward to ensure that such occurrences do not happen in future (Onwudiwe 6). Considering that the race with the most painful history of discrimination in the United States is the African Americans and the President is a black man raised in a Muslim family, the current regime has done close to zero in enhancing their fight for rights of the minor races.
There is a need for change in the judicial operations in the United States to ensure that the minor races feel protected by the system instead of being victimized. In narration of the reason Ahmed was previously suspended from school, it is clear that the boy had no feel of justice with the system of administration in the school considering the fact that he was suspended for trying to defend himself (Lanphear 74). There are much more students from the minor races in the United States who are subjected to even worse abuse by the school administration, other students or even the police, all based on their races. The shooting of unarmed teenagers by police in different states in the United States reinforce the stereotype, as none of the shot youths is white. Does it mean that the white teens are too good that they do not commit crimes? The answer is no. but the mentality of the people in the system is that African-American, Latinos and Arabs are violent and therefore shooting them is one of the ways to restrains them.
In most scenarios, the composition of the police force, teachers and judicial employees contributes to the stereotyping due to their irrationality to the population living in an area. The jury in courts, the prosecutor, police officers, teachers and the judge are mostly of the majority white race (Zweigenhaft and College). Considering that these people are born and raised in an environment that encourages dehumanization of the minority races makes their mind stick with the feeling of superiority of the white people and therefore subconsciously still view the non-white Americans within the stereotype image they set in their minds. Increasing the homogeneity of races in schools to have a diversity of teachers that reflect the diversity of the population living in an area is important. A black judge, a Muslim teacher or a Latino prosecutor is more likely to understand the challenges that people of the minor races in the United States face (Bireda and Bireda 25). Balancing the professionals working in an area will not only provide youths with role models but also present a sense of justice to the people of the area. For example, if the teacher who reported Ahmed to the police of having a bomb-like gadget in class were a Muslim, all the fuss about this being a case of Islamophobia would not be there.
In conclusion, racial profiling in the United States is still rife, and the case of Ahmed Mohamed, a fourteen-year-old teenager being arrested for being in possession of a homemade clock in school is one such case. The discrimination has adverse effects on students as some bow to the pressure of stereotype and they quit school, some ending up as gangsters. The big gap between the rich and the poor in the country is directly relatable to the stereotyping as more students who are discriminated against perform poorly and hence the low number of highly educated people from such races. To curb the discrimination, there is need to reorganize the way institutions operate to reflect the communities in it. If a child is discriminated against by teachers just because he is a Muslim and he is seen as a terrorist and there are no Muslim workers in the local institutions, he can look up to, then the chance of buying the stereotype and becoming radicalized is high.
Works Cited
Bireda, Martha R, and Martha R Bireda. Cultures in Conflict. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2010. Print.
Lanphear, Joshua B. "Inherent Racial Biases Woven Into America's Criminal Justice Institutions: A Reexamination Of To Kill A Mockingbird". SSRN Electronic Journal 10.1 (2015): 69-136. Web.
Onwudiwe, Ihekwoaba. "Defining Terrorism, Racial Profiling and the Demonisation of Arabs and Muslims in the USA". Safer Communities 4.2 (2005): 4-11. Web.
Pizarro, Marcos. Chicanas and Chicanos in School. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2005. Print.
Selk, Avi. "Before Ahmed’S Fame: Fantastic Inventions and a Fight with Authority". Web.archive.org. N.p., 2015. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
Zweigenhaft, Richard L., and Guilford College. "Who Rules America: Diversity Among Ceos And Corporate Directors". Www2.ucsc.edu. N.p., 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
