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How America finally did the right thing with #IStandWithAhmed

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Sonia Chopra
Sonia ChopraSep 18, 2015 | 11:07

How America finally did the right thing with #IStandWithAhmed

Today, I am a renewed believer. I always believed in the power of positivity and happy endings and I send that vibe out to the universe daily but after covering the news for years, I sometimes experience cynicism.

But today, my faith in humanity and in the basic goodness of America as a country has been restored.

By now, the story of Ahmed Mohammed, the 14-year-old Muslim teen, who attends Texas' MacArthur High School and was arrested for bringing what the teacher thought was a "bomb". It wasn't, it was a clock, he made at home and for the record it was a pretty impressive one.

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The smart kid just wanted to show the teacher how innovative he was and what he was capable of doing on his own.

So, how did they reward him?

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Does America still have a problem with Muslims? 

The very stupid, the very white and the very Islamophobia school authorities showed the world what how innovative they can be too.

Here was a brown kid with a Muslim name of Sudanese heritage and of course, since he wasn't named John and the right shade of white, they turned around and sent Ahmed a message back.

They had him arrested. Then later, of course, he was released and all charges were dropped.

It's been 14 years since September 11 happened but people have not got past the huge generalisation that all Muslims are very bad people, usually up to no good and at that worst, they are terrorists.

It was clear. It was obvious. And police and school authorities can deny this till they are blue in the face and continue their weak arguments about how Ahmed would have been detained even if was white.

I don't buy it. America has a big fat problem with Muslims. Period.

I am fed up of going into why that is the case. Foreign policy, mistakes made by all countries, terrorism and anger against the United States, yeah, all of that.

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But are we going to continue to punish generations of Muslims? The kids who are born here and are American, in every way?

Forever, I thought. Until I saw how it all went down with Ahmed.

Twitter erupted in outrage when the picture of Ahmed in handcuffs and a NASA T-shirt went viral. The hashtag #IStandWithAhmed went worldwide quickly.

The most uplifting moment for me came up when President Barack Obama tweeted this:

Since then, Ahmed has been offered invitations and career opportunities from many high-profile leaders and celebrities and he has that invite to the White House during its "Astronomy Night". Plus, he gets to discuss Twitter and Reddit internships and to top it all, he gets a tour of his dream school Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

This is so hopeful because it is a sign that humanity and kindness exist and that America, in spite of all its all flaws is a great country, where infinite possibilities exist. Dreams come true and we still see the goodness in people.

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I believe in this deeply and completely. And so, today I am happy.

Last updated: September 18, 2015 | 15:26
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