Ahmed Mohamed, a 14-year-old high school student in Texas, took his homemade digital clock to school to show to an engineering teacher. Later in the day his clock beeped during an English class, and...

Ahmed Mohamed, a 14-year-old high school student in Texas, took his homemade digital clock to school to show to an engineering teacher. Later in the day his clock beeped during an English class, and after showing it to his teacher, she reported him to school officials. School officials called the police and Ahmed was taken into custody, handcuffed, fingerprinted, and a mug shot was taken at a juvenile detention center. He was suspended from school for three days for bringing a “suspiciouslooking” item to school. Mohamed’s detention and suspension immediately raised questions of Islamophobia and attracted nationwide attention, including expressions of support from President Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Mark Zuckerberg. This case and research data indicate that schools are not color-blind when it comes to discipline. Data from the U.S. Department of Education show that African–American K–12 students are 3.8 times as likely to receive one or more out-of-school suspensions as white students. Furthermore, racial discrimination extends to the juvenile justice system. A 2015 study by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division examined 33,000 cases over three years and concluded that the juvenile justice system treats black youths far more harshly than whites, and deprives all low-income youths accused of crimes of their basic constitutional rights. How does this discrimination harm juveniles?