Ahmed Mohammed, a 14-year-old who was arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school, has gotten the attention of Silicon Valley.
After news about the arrest spread, the #IStandWithAhmed hashtag was started on Twitter to show support for Ahmed and his family. According to BBC, a college student named Amneh Jafari started the hashtag because Ahmed reminded her of her brothers and she was shocked by the story. Over 700,000 people have tweeted their support including many tech companies who have offered Ahmed internships and visits to their offices.
How do I get in touch with Ahmed? We (@reddit) wanna intro him to some of our friends in science (+ internship?) http://t.co/Bwgnbz179O
— Alexis Ohanian 🇦🇲 (@alexisohanian) September 16, 2015
Ahmed, don’t let this stop your creativity. Come hang out at Autodesk and we’ll make something new together. #IStandWithAhmed
— Carl Bass (@carlbass) September 16, 2015
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#IStandWithAhmed because we love to make things too. Never stop inventing the future. pic.twitter.com/n1ergHSTg8
— Foursquare City Guide (@FoursquareGuide) September 16, 2015
https://twitter.com/twitter/status/644261776146632704
Mark Zuckerberg showed his support on his Facebook page stating, “The future belongs to people like Ahmed.”
Even President Obama wants Ahmed to come to the White House.
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.
— President Obama (@POTUS44) September 16, 2015
Ahmed was arrested instead of being praised for his sense of discovery and innovation — which, as Ahmed is a young Muslim of color, raises questions of prejudice and inappropriate knee jerk reactions.
Unfortunately he isn’t the first student of color to be arrested for a science experiment. Back in 2013, 16-year-old Kiera Wilmot was arrested and expelled after her experiment exploded in biology class. #IStandWithAhmed is bringing light to the serious risks of the lack of diversity in STEM.
The officials at Ahmed’s school were more convinced that he had a bomb than just seeing him as a curious scientific kid. Let’s hope through Ahmed’s story we see more support of young students of color in STEM.
