http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/20/boy.osama/index.html
A boy named Osama
>From Brian Todd
CNN
Monday, December 20, 2004 Posted: 6:55 PM EST (2355 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- We can't show the boy's shoes, but try to put
yourself in them. We can't show his face; we can't tell you where he
goes to school or the area where he lives, or even the state where he
lives because his parents are concerned about potential retaliation.
We can tell you the boy's first name: Osama.
And he can tell you what he's been through by age 11.
"You'd get pushed around and sometimes you'd have -- I'd have to ask
the teacher a couple of times, because it was severe -- so, and it
was, you know it was bad. I felt bad. And it made me feel down and
horrible," Osama says.
This was a carefree kid -- born to Muslim parents -- with a name that
was, until September 11, 2001, simply different.
"When I came home that day -- I can still remember, just saying 'Today
was a good day'. But then my mom said 'Didn't you hear, that it's --
you know, what happened?' and I'm just asking what happened and she
said -- she gave me the whole event and she told me what happened. And
so I realized that my name was unique in this part of the world and
what I was gonna do," Osama says.
His parents say that Osama also had sand and rocks thrown at him, and
that he endured what his mother called tremendous torture. It was
enough to prompt his parents to consult their pediatrician about
changing Osama's name.
Asked if he wanted to change his name, Osama says, "Not really ...
because it's sort of special. Really when you grow older, they won't
remember back -- I don't know, how many, 20 years back. Because they
don't -- if your name is Jack they don't refer to you as 'Jack the
Ripper.'"
They did refer to him, he says, as a "towel-head."
Osama was only 8 years old on that day. Asked his opinion of the
United States and American children since then, he says, "I'm not
blaming anybody for that. I wouldn't be happy if I saw so many people
die in my own country. I wouldn't be that happy. And I was born in
America, so I can understand their temper too."
He says things have gotten better in recent months, but his parents
are again worried. Osama is entering middle school next year.
But their child may be more resilient than even they know.
Asked what he wants to be when he gets older, Osama says he's not sure
but that he just wants to make the world a better place.
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