The damage done by Yasmin Seweids hijab hate hoax

[Behind the Aegis]

3. People like this are almost as bad as those who commit hate crimes.

She, and those like her, create a dual problem, one is that people are less likely to believe a minority person who has been victimized and secondly, many minorities are less likely to report because of fear of not being believed and further harassed. Depending on the group, the damage can be even greater; in this case, Muslims are already not believed by those on the right, and the reflexive defense they get from the left will be jeopardized, much in the same way anytime a false report of rape surfaces. Sadly, most people forget these incidents are the exception not the rule.

Just above this category of people, but still below the group of people who commit hate crimes (in terms of odiousness), are those who falsely claim victimization by a minority. I see all three groups as part of the same "machinery" which make the lives of minority people and victims of rape and sexual assault a living nightmare.

Still, I hope most people will realize, as I said earlier, she is an exception, not the rule! We will see increases, already have, of incidents of Islamophobia, and most reports will be real. We will see rises in crimes against other minorities, including ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, and religion, which includes anti-Semitism.