First Ahmed Mohamed was arrested for bringing a clock to school. Then he released because why should a kid arrested for having a clock. Then he was hailed a hero because he was an innovative kid who was arrested for being innovated. Now his is a villain for perpetuating a fraud.
All this demonstrates how complex racism is, how many of us do make judgements based on what the person looks like, not their character or abilities, and how we react when we react when we feel like we have been fooled.
As I said at the time, we don't know what transpired between Mr. Mohamed and his teacher. What we do know is that the case escalated to the point where there was an arrest, and everyone assumed that that arrest was caused by bigotry, which given the fact that the mayor is self described anti-muslim could be the case..
What is also likely the case is that people saw this was in Texas, saw the student was dark skinned, and assumed it was a case of the white power structure being threatened by a brilliant person of color who who did something that the small minds who live in Texas just could not understand.
As in many of these cases, the truth is probably more complex that we first assumed, and the assumptions that were made at the time were not completed completed reflected in the reality. What is interesting is that all the people who were supporting Mr. Mohamed because they thought he was a clever innovative kid are now feeling like he tricked everyone because he may have just put a store bought clock in a box.
It is like when he was a Muslim who did something really cool, he did not deserve to be arrested, but now that he just an average Muslim kid, he does.
Here is my radical thought. A kid that brings something to school that she or he made that poses no threat to anyone, that is just a cute thing they made, should not be arrested. Furthermore, even if that cute thing is not innovative, the kid should not be arrested.
Here is the reality. Most innovative kids in the 12-15 year old are not building highly complex devices, unless they are highly scaffold, i.e. a parent or teacher is helping them along quite a bit. That is not a problem, as mostly what parents and teachers are trying to do at that age is get them familiar with tools, materials, and process. When I was that age I could not go and get parts for a computer independently, but if parts were given to me I could put a computer together and solder modifications. And it was cool.
It seems that Ahmed Mohamed did something that was age appropriate and interesting. It was not earth shattering, but what so many people don't realize, and what kills innovation in kids, is that this baby steps are critical to developing the innovative mind. It is not only the teachers who kill the innovative spirits when they report a kid with a clock to police, but also the community at large who do not support and encourage these baby steps.