Muslim group doesn't fault school or police for boy's arrest
Source: AP
IRVING, Texas — One of the largest Muslim groups in Texas said Thursday that it does not fault police and school officials who handcuffed and suspended a 14-year-old Muslim boy after he brought a homemade clock to class that they mistook for a possible bomb.
Instead, Khalid Hamideh of the Islamic Association of North Texas blamed political leaders for espousing inflammatory anti-Muslim rhetoric and creating a "climate of fear."
"We're not pointing a finger at the school district or the police department," Hamideh said. "Under the current climate that exists in this country, you can't really blame them because when they see something like that, they have to react."
The association operates the mosque attended by the family of Ahmed Mohamed, the suburban Dallas student who became a sensation on social media after word spread about his clock and the way he was treated.
Read more: http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2015/09/muslim_group_doesnt_fault_scho.html#incart_river
= new reply since forum marked as read
Some defense!
next door. Our tree shaded a good portion of an annex, so it was where the neighborhood played. I had better luck after that. 
My rocket stuff never made it to school, but there was plenty of electronic stuff, and drugs. some kids still had guns in their cars - some farmers, some gangsters. We experimented, learned. Still do. But that was the 60'-70's, and Most of the schools were white, native peoples, and folks from Mexico, up until '71. Amazing what a white kid can get away with. And that has never changed, even though much else has, in some ways.
But there is no difference in humans. Still a young kid, experimenting and trying to find a place in life. Did what they told him to do, excelled at it. Was rewarded by them turning on his ass like a pack of rabid brown shirts.
He will get invited to the WH, to MIT, other places. I would find it comforting to think that he, and all the hundreds of millions of non-white skin non-christians will forget what we did to him because he wasn't white or christian enough. I bet our kids would sleep better knowing that too.
But I be he doesn't. And I bet many other folks in this country and around the world don't forget either.
If they thought it was a bomb, they should have evacuated the school and and called the bomb squad. And since he never claimed it was a bomb --and truthfully -- he's not guilty of perpetrating a bomb hoax. So what crime did he commit, and why did they react the way they did? That is, isn't it the COPS who are guilty of perpetrating a bomb hoax?
rocktivity
outnumber the crazies by far, but not necessarily at school board meetings.
They're right: It was reasonable of the police to ask some questions.
And that's where it ought to have ended. Everything beyond the asking of questions was mishandled, and I do think anti-Muslim racism played a big role in how things escalated.
I disagree with the Facebook post, which uses a false dichotomy to push the notion that the police never thought the device was cause for concern, always knew it was nothing but a harmless clock, and were only interested in "humiliating a small Muslim boy."
Below is a picture of the clock, which was not in any way connected with a school assignment and that was brought into school without permission. If I were a dad with a son or daughter who wanted to bring this into school, I'd probably respond, "You know what? People are really on edge about stuff like this these days. Let's get permission from your science teacher first, okay?"
... multiple times already in the post about the Facebook meme. If you're still interested in the topic, give a read of those and let me know if you have further questions or comments. I'm happy to discuss this with anyone who's willing to discuss it reasonably and not--as one poster has already done--accuse me of being an apologist for bigotry. 
The original post in which I've discussed the subject is here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027180415
Thanks.
In a happy turn of this discussion, I can report I agree 100% with everything you've just stated. 
Thanks for doing your part.
You've ended my night on a good note.
I applaud Hamideh for being so reasonable and wise - and absolutely correct.
If we look back to our history, there have been many times such a climate of fear has been created - and it has always resulted in ignorance and suffering. What really made it hit home for me the other day was when a little girl I know and love freaked out about seeing another child who was a Muslim (asking her mother if she should be afraid - and wondering if the little girl wanted to kill us). Maybe it's the media nonsense, maybe some friends of hers have repeated the words of their conservative parents at school. I don't know. This particular little girl though (the one that was scared) came here after being adopted from another Country - and went through the whole initial process of being thought of different, as talking funny, not being like everyone else. I would have expected her to have better sense than that - and I know she is being raised with it.
In some parts of the Country though, diversity is rare. There isn't, I don't think, enough exposure to other ideas, cultures, religions and philosophies - thus, when we encounter something outside of our normal routine, it may throw us for a bit of a loop.
Fortunately, the little girl's mother calmly explained that there was nothing to be afraid of, in a way that the child seemed to understand very well. I hope to see the two kids playing together some day.
Most of us go through our lives just trying to live decently. For those that promote fear and hatred deliberately though (the Tea Party, the Neocon movement, many so called "Christians" I have the deepest of contempt. There are people out there who would eagerly harm someone else for no reason at all, there are those who would so in the name of religion or philosophy, but they are quite a minority. To push the idea that muslims are somehow bad, or to be feared, to condemn someone for something as personal as religious faith, is both ignorant and cruel.
Brings to mind all these damned reporters going on about Trump and whether he thinks Obama is a Muslim. Clearly, he isn't one - but that's beside the point for me. What I keep wondering is why nobody speaks up and asks... "So what if he WAS a Muslim?" Would that make someone unqualified to lead somehow? Are Muslims the enemy? Are we preparing another damned Crusade?
As an agnostic, some times I am glad that I let go of my religious affiliations some time ago. I don't care what God someone believes in, what religion or philosophy they follow - I care whether or not they behave like decent human beings. This school - and these police officers, and others, did not. Remarkably, our "Muslim" President, and this actual Muslim here (Hamideh) behaved with both dignity and tolerance in a manner that I deeply respect.
