Muslims Must Counter Negative Image in US, Congressmen Say

It is important to push back “against the narrative that Muslims represent terrorism and extremist ideologies,” said U.S. Representative Andre Carson, one of only two Muslims in the Congress. The Indiana Democrat said that Muslims need to present a positive image to American society. “A lot of terrorism activities are thwarted because Muslims are working with the law enforcement agencies and they are part of the law enforcement agencies. But you never hear about these stories,” he said. “America is ours, and until we dismiss the negative notions of what it means to be a Muslim, we will still face this kind of discrimination across the country.” Carson was referring to the temporary detention  of a Muslim student from suburban Dallas who was pulled from class after he showed a homemade clock to a teacher who mistook it for a bomb. Ahmed Mohamed was questioned by the principal and police, then was handcuffed and taken to a police station. As Ahmed’s story spread across social media, Twitter erupted with support for him. President Barack Obama invited him to the White House, and Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg posted that he wanted to meet him. A NASA scientist asked Ahmed to give him a call in a couple of years for a job opportunity.
[Extracted from http://www.voanews.com/content/muslims-counter-negative-image-united-states/2969802.html]