I am more afraid of being the victim of an act of terrorism committed by a white man than I am a Muslim and I have a valid reason for it.

It’s officially been a little over a year since Trump’s Muslim immigration ban was deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court and religious freedom in America was validated for everyone except those of the Islamic faith. The effects of this ban are still being felt in aftershocks across the globe as students cannot return to the United States for schooling, loved ones cannot visit their families and legal Muslims are trapped within our borders, afraid to leave and afraid to stay.

While it says something of our country as a whole that we would deny people access to our country on the basis of religion, it also speaks to the effect of our privilege as U.S. citizens that we don’t see them as fit to live amongst us. Without recognition for the hardships faced in their countries of origin, nor appreciation for the incredible decision to leave their homelands behind, America is failing Muslims.

This gatekeeping of the Islamic community essentially scapegoats an entire demographic that shares peaceful beliefs at its core. The word “Islam” itself signifies peace and commitment to Allah. Similarly to Christianity, Islam does have its extremists who give the community a bad reputation.

However, while it’s easy to blame the Islamic religion and its followers for the terrorism that has become commonplace in our culture, it is important to highlight the number of racially driven acts of terrorism committed by white men that are continually labeled as simply “acts of violence.”

Nothing new to our destigmatized minds, violence is prevalent everyday in the news as it seems a different public location has been shot up. These stories, seemingly different yet essentially the same, share a huge commonality is that they are most often committed by white men.

Think of the Sandy Hooks shooting; the Las Vegas shooting; Parkland, Florida, or the Sutherland Springs, Texas church shooting. Even more recently, think of the Thousand Oaks, California shooting; the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting; the Capital Gazette shooting and many more. All of these heinous acts were committed by white men. White men are killing us with guns and it is still terrorism. In fact, we’re more likely to be murdered by far-right extremists today than we are Islamists.

With almost half the world’s Muslim population living in the United States, this scapegoating is incredibly dangerous. New data shows that for the third consecutive year that the percentage of hate crimes in our country has risen. While this is obviously a negative growth, it is worthy to note that hate crimes are still nowhere near as prevalent as they were following 9/11 and all the anti-Muslim propaganda bolsted during that time.

As Trump continues to incite violence and spew garbage facts about the dangers he perceives Muslims pose against our country, take notice that he is the one putting us in danger with such messages that fuel terror and hate. Remember that all beliefs can become radicalized, not just those of religions and demographics deemed undesirable in our country.