#IStandWithAhmed

         Two weeks ago, the police department of Irving, Texas decided that creativity is synonymous with terrorism. Those people who swear to protect attempted to destroy the life of a boy whose intellect and passion seeped out through his creations. A handmade clock cannot be seen as a young muslim boy’s output to the world of technology, but only as an input to evil and destruction. Islam is not inherently evil. It is not defined by the radicals who dare to use words of peace to justify violence. If the KKK does not define Christianity, ISIS should not define Islam. Because that assumption is made, the experience of Ahmed is and has been a reality for muslims all over the world. It discourages and dehumanizes them. It teaches young kids to fear the consequences of praising Allah, before they truly learn to fear Allah himself. The media coverage of Ahmed’s story is what allowed this happening to end as well as it did, but many muslims do not have this privilege when they are oppressed or harassed. Media gives the victims of Islamophobic acts the voice that society tries to strip away from them.