Every time I see a hijabi in public I am so scared. I stand near her on the subway platform in case anyone tries something. I think of my devout sister, thousands of miles away and completely defenseless. I am terrified. My hands shake at work when I have to tell a table I don’t eat pork and I can feel the weight of their realization hit. I am afraid, all of the time, afraid that I or someone I know will be the next buried news story.

It is impossible to be human under this fear. It consumes everything. It cannibalizes the mind. There is no escape.