By Nida Khan
When Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump spews his openly
bigoted, anti-Muslim nonsense, it makes great headlines, drums up
support from the most racist elements of his base and gives newsrooms
something to lead with. As he rises in the polls and raises funds, and
as T.V. ratings increase, newspapers sell and sites get more clicks,
real-life consequences happen.
The FBI recently released its
annual Hate Crime Statistics Report and according to those figures the
number of hate crimes overall fell in 2014 from the previous year --
except when it came to the Muslim community. Anti-Muslim incidents rose
and one can only imagine what the final results for 2015 will be. Since
the tragic Paris attacks, there is yet again an increase in Muslim
backlash; everything from attacks on women wearing hijabs to gunshots at
a family's home, to vandalism, threats and even armed gunman protesting
outside mosques. But in addition to these horrendous acts, what
doesn't get any attention at all is the many ways in which both the
overt and subliminal messaging of anti-Muslim rhetoric has seeped into
the American psyche and created ingrained biases that can be just as
dangerous as hate crimes -- and yes, even deadly.
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Nida Khan is an independent journalist, radio correspondent and producer based in New York City.
Source: The Huffington Post
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