The case of Ahmed Mohamed begs the question: why do so many Americans believe the United States is post-racial? Post-racialism means the interrogation, arrest, and suspension of a 14 year old Sudanese American Muslim boy for building a clock that his teacher believed was a bomb was merely a mistake, a good faith error, or an anomaly. In a post-racial America, Ahmed’s race, national origin, and religion offer no insights into his excessively punitive treatment by school officials in Irving, Texas. That Muslims have been systematically vilified as terrorists in the media for the past fourteen years would be irrelevant. Indeed, the post-racial reasoning would conclude that Ahmed would have been treated the same had he been white and Christian.
The problem with post-racialism, as lofty as it may be, is that it is belied by the facts. In Nancy E. Dowd’s book Justice for Kids, social scientists and legal scholars offer an alarming plethora of data that makes one thing clear: African American and other students of color are subject to disproportionately punitive and excessive disciplining by school officials. One study found that in 2005-2006 white students comprised 56% of the student population and received 39% of school suspensions and expulsions. In contrast, minority students who made up 44% of the student population received 61% of suspensions and expulsions. For African American male students, the rate of suspension was 24% – nearly triple their representation of the student population. Often times minor infractions lead to severe penalties.
A common myth is that zero tolerance policies that produce such high levels of suspensions make schools more successful. To the contrary, the suspension rates of a particular state correlates negatively with its rankings in math, writing, and reading due to the negative school environment. It also contributes to the startling statistic that 59% of African American males graduated from high school compared to 80% of white males. Harsh disciplining policies also adversely impact the mental health and well-being of the students affected, most of whom are racial and ethnic minorities.
Hence, the embarrassment that Ahmed Mohamed experienced as he was interrogated for more than an hour by police, handcuffed in front of his peers, and hauled to a juvenile detention center to be fingerprinted leaves deep psychological scars. It causes learning and school to be associated with humiliation and vilification. And it makes students distrustful and resentful of the teachers who are supposed to nurture and support their intellectual growth, not punish it.
While Ahmed’s appalling experience was mitigated by the outpouring of support he received on social media, including a tweet by President Obama; the millions of other students of color experiencing disparate disciplining are not so lucky. Instead, they suffer in silence in a racialized education system that blames the victims.