Waleed Abu Shaban, a 12-year-old student, was watching a movie in his class when a teacher passed on a remark that he is a terrorist.
This incident happened on April 04, 2016 in middle school at Fort Bend County Texas when students were watching ‘Bend It Like Beckham’. As soon as Waleed laughed off at one of the jokes, his teacher made this outrageous remark.
The teacher told him that he shouldn’t be laughing and on asking the reason, the answer was “Because we all think you’re a terrorist.”
All children, in support of their teacher, got too cruel to that boy. Waleed was terrified and felt no less than a specimen on display.
Some students made fun of him, telling they see some bomb while some others cracked other jokes. He was quite upset and felt that everyone had put him in a corner and were making fun of him.
This case reminds up of the clock-bomb fiasco. A Muslim schoolboy named Ahmed Mohamed in Texas had brought a clock to school which he had made it himself, but his teacher immediately called up the police as she thought that it was a bomb.
This is a pure case of school bullying. The teacher is removed from the class, but his family like other Muslims want her to be terminated. Apart from that, they want mandatory religious training for faculty and students.
Waleed’s father, Malek Abushaaban, stated that just because his son, it doesn’t mean she labels him as ‘terrorist.’ He is an American and is born here. The only thing he knows is how to be an American.
After this had happened, the teacher claimed that she didn’t have intentions of marginalizing Waleed. Moreover, she defended herself and stated that it was her misguided attempt to portray negative stereotypes in the society.
