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Much of the online commentary I've seen of the aftermath seems to be along the lines of, "See? It was all a stunt!" I expect this will be met with, "See? He IS

Much of the online commentary I've seen of the aftermath seems to be along the lines of, "See? It was all a stunt!" I expect this will be met with, "See? He IS a terrorist!" Personally, I think the overreaction and resulting media storm have just ruined the kids life. Where can he go and be a normal, if perhaps unusually inclined to STEM, kid? Nowhere in the US, that's for sure.

xlm1717 11y ago
He has met with leaders all around the world and gotten the attention of major tech companies. His life is nowhere close to ruined.
deleted 11y ago
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- huxley 11y ago
  His father emigrated from Sudan, so not so unlikely that someone who is ethnically Sudanese might be invited to visit Sudan and meet the president.
thieving_magpie 11y ago
There's no where in the US this kid can go and pursue an education in a STEM field? You really believe that? Good lord HN is a pool of overreaction.
- TallGuyShort 11y ago
  There's a difference between pursuing an education and being treated normally socially. I mean "ruined his life" is an exaggeration, I'll admit, but it's pretty tough to get this much attention in a controversy and then just leave that all behind. A significant portion of my friends think he's a terrorist, for goodness sakes...
  - thieving_magpie 11y ago
    Yeah, it's a situation that should never have happened. If your friends think he's a terrorist, get new friends. It's one to think his family faked it for attention (which I don't, but it isn't like the father doesn't have a history of attracting attention to himself on purpose), another to just call them terrorists.
    - TallGuyShort 11y ago
      Me getting new friends doesn't help Ahmed. The same attitude is all over. That's my point. Huge portions of America think the kid's a terrorist. That's not HN exaggeration. That is literally the words coming off their keyboard. I don't think he stood a chance of a normal life in America.
      - thieving_magpie 11y ago
        I guess I can't argue that he'd have a normal life now. I totally don't buy that "huge portions of america think the kid's a terrorist", but we can stop our discussion here.
  - notahacker 11y ago
    Socially, I'd think in most parts of the country he can choose between being "hey, check out the funny story behind my 15 mins of fame Ahmed" to his friends, "I too have been a victim of police oppression Ahmed" or just another normal kid with an extremely common Islamic name. I doubt many of your friends that think he's a terrorist would recognise him if he walked past them on the street tomorrow, unless he happened to be carrying a clock.
Splines 11y ago
Just wait a year - the news cycle turns, and this kid will be forgotten. In 3-4 years when he applies to college, unless the administrators explicitly look his name up, I doubt they would care.

xlm1717 11y ago

He has met with leaders all around the world and gotten the attention of major tech companies. His life is nowhere close to ruined.

deleted 11y ago

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huxley 11y ago
His father emigrated from Sudan, so not so unlikely that someone who is ethnically Sudanese might be invited to visit Sudan and meet the president.

thieving_magpie 11y ago

There's no where in the US this kid can go and pursue an education in a STEM field? You really believe that? Good lord HN is a pool of overreaction.

TallGuyShort 11y ago
There's a difference between pursuing an education and being treated normally socially. I mean "ruined his life" is an exaggeration, I'll admit, but it's pretty tough to get this much attention in a controversy and then just leave that all behind. A significant portion of my friends think he's a terrorist, for goodness sakes...
- thieving_magpie 11y ago
  Yeah, it's a situation that should never have happened. If your friends think he's a terrorist, get new friends. It's one to think his family faked it for attention (which I don't, but it isn't like the father doesn't have a history of attracting attention to himself on purpose), another to just call them terrorists.
  - TallGuyShort 11y ago
    Me getting new friends doesn't help Ahmed. The same attitude is all over. That's my point. Huge portions of America think the kid's a terrorist. That's not HN exaggeration. That is literally the words coming off their keyboard. I don't think he stood a chance of a normal life in America.
    - thieving_magpie 11y ago
      I guess I can't argue that he'd have a normal life now. I totally don't buy that "huge portions of america think the kid's a terrorist", but we can stop our discussion here.
- notahacker 11y ago
  Socially, I'd think in most parts of the country he can choose between being "hey, check out the funny story behind my 15 mins of fame Ahmed" to his friends, "I too have been a victim of police oppression Ahmed" or just another normal kid with an extremely common Islamic name. I doubt many of your friends that think he's a terrorist would recognise him if he walked past them on the street tomorrow, unless he happened to be carrying a clock.

Splines 11y ago

Just wait a year - the news cycle turns, and this kid will be forgotten. In 3-4 years when he applies to college, unless the administrators explicitly look his name up, I doubt they would care.